OMAHA, Neb. (KMTV) — Last week, Nebraska Gov. Pete Ricketts and Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds said they planned to fight a vaccine mandate handed down from OSHA which would require employees at businesses with 100 or more employees to get vaccinated by Jan. 4 or be tested for COVID weekly. On Wednesday, Nebraska Attorney General Doug Peterson’s office said the state has filed a third lawsuit to challenge the mandate.
RELATED: Nebraska and Iowa file lawsuits, challenging newly-issued vaccine mandate
Peterson’s office said:
Today’s filing seeks to stop the mandate that the Biden Administration’s Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) seeks to impose on healthcare workers throughout Nebraska—and the rest of the nation. As with the other two challenges, we argue that this healthcare worker mandate exceeds the Biden Administration’s powers and violates both the U.S. Constitution and other federal laws. In preparing this lawsuit, we have talked to many healthcare facilities throughout Nebraska, especially in rural communities, and we have heard the same message over and over again: this mandate will force healthcare providers to fire critical employees, including operations personnel who don’t provide patient care, and that will have a devastating impact on many healthcare facilities in greater Nebraska. That, in turn, jeopardizes the ability of Nebraska residents to access necessary healthcare services throughout the state. The lawsuit asserts that state health officials and local hospital administrators are in the best position to address appropriate COVID-19 issues in Nebraska health care facilities. We hope to avoid the detrimental impact that the mandate threatens to healthcare services in Nebraska.
In addition to Iowa, Nebraska is joining Missouri, Arkansas, Kansas, Iowa, Wyoming, Alaska, South Dakota, North Dakota and New Hampshire in signing onto the lawsuit.
You can read a full copy of the lawsuit below or by clicking here.
On Saturday, a federal appeals court temporarily halted the vaccine mandate.
Louisiana Attorney General Jeff Landry, a Republican, said the court action halts Democratic President Joe Biden's administration from "moving forward with his unlawful overreach."
“The president will not impose medical procedures on the American people without the checks and balances afforded by the constitution,” Landry said in a statement, the Associated Press reported.
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