Dear Representative, I have taken some time to read over the AB1993 bill and had some questions I hope you can answer or ask when this bill reaches the floor for discussion. - California has already begun accepting COVID-19 as endemic and are getting back to life as normal. Why is the CA legislature considering approving a law that will force a medical injection to provide for their family? - If the COVID-19 vaccine does not prevent transmission to others or contracting the virus, how would a fully-vaccinated workforce keep people safer? - Largely populated cities and states such as New York, Seattle, Philadelphia, Washington D.C. and more have removed vaccine mandates due to the virus becoming endemic. If AB1993 passed, why would it be relevant by 2023? - The CDC states ‘natural immunity’ 6 times greater protection from COVID-19 than vaccination. Why is natural immunity not acceptable? In general, employers across multiple industries have not requested immunization records or to even get a flu shot to be employed. Are we setting a precedent to require employees to inject something in their bodies just to provide for their families? Everyone reacts to medicine and vaccines differently. AB1993 bill would cause irreparable harm to individuals' lives forever. To represent the requests of your constituents, please OPPOSE AB1993. Thank you! Sincerely,

Dear Representative, As a business owner, I would also like to know what provisions will be made to protect employers from future lawsuits? As we know, these vaccines have had less than 2 years of use in the general public and the results seem to change by the month. There is no guarantee that businesses will not be held liable for damages incurred by our employees when forced to become vaccinated. Mandating something that doesn’t have much history to it, especially safety history comes with inevitable risks. It is our company’s belief that we must treat people as responsible adults who are capable of making their own health decisions. An employer making a health decision or coercing them to make one does not seem safe, sound or reasonable. We ask that you oppose or abstain from AB1993.

Dear Representative, As an employer, I am concerned about the proposed bill, AB1993 and the hardships it will place on our business. The pandemic was hard enough for our company to endure with the constantly changing restrictions, guidelines, and health orders. To create an employee mandate which I, as the employer would not have a say in and would face fines for, does not help us achieve our goals of rebuilding trust within the workplace or help to begin the healing process in our community. An employee mandate would inevitably create a hostile work environment as previous orders have done. We have had to make hard decisions in how we respect and honor the deeply held beliefs of our staff and even some of our patrons. While not all here have agreed, we have finally reached an important phase of rebuilding where our staff and our patrons are beginning to feel hopeful about the return to normalcy. AB1993 destroys the progress we have made. I ask that you please oppose AB1993 and consider the devastating effects it will have on our business, employees, and our patrons.

Dear Representative, I have some questions and concerns in regards to AB1993. AB1993 says it will authorize employers to test if an employee qualifies for a medical or religious exemption. My questions are concerning the right to privacy of an employee. Both medical and religious exemptions hold highly personal information about someone that a person may not feel comfortable disclosing to their employer. What rights does an employee have not to disclose certain information? What if someone has a mental health disorder and due to the neurotoxins or treatments they are currently on, they are unable to receive the vaccine at the current time? Does an employee need to disclose that highly personal information? What if an employee has a disability or disorder that they do not share publicly? If they share this information with their employer, what protections will be in place that an employer is strictly prohibited from sharing personal or identifying information about that employee? If a person has a valid reason such as medical or religious reasons to hold an exemption in the workplace, what protections will be in place to protect an employee from hostile co-workers, employer retaliation, and/or loss of competing work opportunities? I am concerned that this mandate will disproportionately affect individuals with neurodiverse needs as well as those who have sincerely held and personal beliefs that they have a right to. I am concerned that AB1993 will encourage a hostile work environment for those who are exempt and will no longer be a safe place for those who are unvaccinated. I ask that you please take these questions and concerns seriously and address them with your colleagues who are authoring the bill. I would like to hear these questions addressed on the floor or hear back from you about what may be introduced to safeguard individuals who are unvaccinated. Thank you.

Dear Representative, In speaking with many business owners, it’s come to my attention that many are worried about the blue collar employees they employ and the effect this will have on their business. A significant number of employees have already stated they will not receive the vaccine under any circumstance. Has the legislature considered that despite the push to require vaccination as a condition of employment, many still will not comply? If many do not comply, what will this do to our economy? Additionally, employers are worried that the long term consequences could come back to them via liability lawsuits. We still have so much to learn about these vaccines and with little safety history, it is not wise to mandate something in a state of over 39 million people. It is especially concerning that this bill would make it mandatory for businesses to do so or face fines. This places business owners in an impossible situation, placing their employees' health at risk or being fined to the death of their own business. AB1993 is not the solution to the pandemic. In fact, I believe that the measures taken thus far have done exactly what they needed to and our state is beginning to see the positive outcomes of that. To mandate the COVID-19 vaccine only stirs even more division during a time we need unity to rebuild. Please oppose or abstain from AB1993. Thank you.

Dear Representative, I would like to ask you to oppose AB1993. The residents of California have been through enough distress the past 2 years due to COVID-19 restrictions and rules. The virus is now endemic and the AB1993 bill is not necessary to implement. AB1993 would not be implemented until January 2023 at the earliest, which is nearly 1 year from now. Why would this law be relevant 1 year from now? Vaccines are readily available to all 16+ year olds who want to get one. The COVID-19 vaccine only has the potential to lessen an individual’s symptoms. It does not stop a person from transmitting or contracting the virus. Business owners can currently choose what is required of their employees to be employed. Why does a law need to be passed to force all businesses to adopt this policy across a wide range of industries? Thank you for your time. Please oppose AB1993. Sincerely,

Dear Representative, I am a constituent of your district and wanted to share concerns I have over AB1993. Please oppose this bill. California and other states across the country have seen significant turnover when the COVID-19 vaccine is mandated to be employed over the last 2 years. Vaccine mandates for employment have seen major backlash from the thousands of employees across all industries such as: airlines, healthcare, private and public companies. AB1993 would cause a significant hardship on your constituents. It could lead to drastic unemployment rates, less tax paying citizens if they choose to flee the state and an unsustainable labor shortage. AB1993 bill text has a vague open ended end date. How will this bill be relevant 1 year from now in 2023? If the virus is endemic now, why would a vaccine mandate be relevant 1 year from now or beyond? Please oppose AB1993. Thank you for your time. Sincerely,

Dear Representative, California has put business owners through the wringer. Many of us have had to close our doors due to the pandemic for many consecutive months, reevaluating what was practical, affordable and feasible as a business, oftentimes needing to spend money we did not have to accommodate the changing rules and guidelines this state has asked of us. As a leading state in economy, it is concerning now that many businesses are considering moving their companies out of state due to overreaching guidelines and AB1993 is no exception. AB1993 will create great barriers to our hiring process, selection process, increase administrative work and training, it will bring down company morale, and create a hostile work environment. We do not wish to go backwards in our progress and feel that AB1993 will do exactly that.

Dear Representative, According to the CDC, vaccines are not 100% effective at preventing infection and in fact, many who have already been fully vaccinated have and will continue to get COVID-19. This is a widely recognized fact which is why I am having a hard time understanding the purpose and intent of AB1993. We have already learned now that people who get vaccine breakthrough infections can be infectious and even unknowingly be spreading COVID-19 to others. It is imperative, that this bill is truly considering the science behind the vaccine as it is not actually in favor of a mandate. Multiple studies have found that natural immunity, post infection, is equivalent or greater than vaccine derived immunity. Why then, is this not being considered in AB1993? “Many who recover from mild COVID-19 have bone marrow cells that churn out antibodies for decades.” ​​ Please consider these important facts when analyzing the data in support of Ab1993. We ask that you strongly OPPOSE AB1993 and do your due diligence in truly following the science. Thank you.

Dear Representative, I am reaching out to you to express concern over the proposed bill AB1993, which would make employers require vaccination against COVID-19 as a condition of employment. It is no secret that the business sector has gone through a rough time over the last two years. Now, as we see mandates lifting, and people finally able to get back to work, some in our legislature are attempting to pull back on our economic recovery. California has seen significant job losses since the start of the pandemic, as well as companies seeking more business-friendly environments in other states. Notably, we lost Tesla, CBRE, and Hewlett Packard to Texas. Through 2021, Stanford researchers found that California-based companies were “moving out of the state at an accelerating rate this year.” Given the capabilities of new remote work technology, AB1993 will only further this trend into 2023 and beyond. Companies will seek out states that do not enforce mandates that cause them to lose employees, and they will allow their staff to work from whichever state they feel at home. California will lose their contributions to our economy and the taxes they pay towards our state. Please do not drive more big companies and jobs away from our state. Please vote no on AB1993.