06/02/2021
Congratulations to our State Representative, Mark Hart and neighbor Representative Savannah Maddox!
Today at the Capitol Annex, Rep. Mark Hart and Rep. Savannah Maddox received the Legislative Excellence award from the Kentucky Medical Freedom Coalition in recognition of their outstanding efforts to expand vaccine freedom in the Commonwealth. Rep. Maddox was grateful for the award, and stated that “Kentuckians have the ability to make good decisions for themselves and their families, and should be free to choose whether or not to receive a vaccine without undue influence from the government.”
Rep. Hart indicated that he was “pleased with the reforms made through SB 8, but would like to see additional progress made on this issue, particularly for Kentucky’s college students attending public universities.” In the 2020 General Assembly Session, Rep. Hart filed HB 101, which would have prevented public universities from mandating vaccines with the exception of students enrolled in a medical or allied health program. He hopes that in 2022 the legislature can expand on the progress made on this important topic.
Rep. Maddox filed HB 36 last Session, which would have removed the Cabinet for Health and Family Services’ ability to require the immunization of “all persons” by emergency regulation. Fortunately, Kentuckians now have the ability to opt out of receiving a vaccine under this circumstance through SB 8, which passed during the 2021 legislative session. Maddox will now shift her focus in 2022 to banning so-called “Vaccine Passports”, in order to ensure that the health freedom and privacy rights of all Kentuckians are preserved.