A bill drafted by a group of Rhode Island state legislators would compel people over the age of 16 who do not get the COVID-19 vaccine to pay double taxes and a $50 monthly fee.
The bill, which was submitted early last month and appears dead in the legislature, has drawn attention in recent days as social media users expressed they were shocked that the bill is real.
“Any person who violates this chapter shall be required to pay a monthly civil penalty of fifty dollars ($50.00) and shall owe twice the amount of personal income taxes as would otherwise be assessed pursuant to chapter 30 of title 44. All employers must require proof of compliance,” the bill said.
Businesses that fail to comply with the legislation would be subject to a monthly $5,000 penalty for each violation. The bill was introduced on March 1 and was referred to the state Senate Health and Human Services Committee, but, so far, it appears to have failed to gain traction.
The bill has received renewed attention in recent days as local Facebook groups, such as “What’s going on in Rhode Island,” began sharing posts about the bill.
https://www.facebook.com/StateofRhodeIsland/posts/3261082670789111?__cft__Last week, a poll found that 64% of Rhode Islanders believe that everyone should be required to receive the vaccine, making the Ocean State the No. 6 most enthusiastic state for such a measure. The poll was conducted by the COVID-19 Consortium for Understanding the Public’s Policy Preferences Across States between March 2 and April 4 among 297 individuals and had a margin of error of 6%.
When news of the poll broke, state Sen. Samuel Bell, who was one of the six legislators who introduced the bill, encouraged Gov. Dan McKee to consider a vaccine mandate, contending that “surrender isn’t working.”
https://twitter.com/SamuelWBell/status/1516025750775808013?s=20&t=LxOAGH9-IUsiruvu23Gb9wIn response to the heightened scrutiny of the measure, two Democratic state senators, Frank Lombardi and John Burke, removed their names from the bill, the Providence Journal reported.
Rhode Island has the highest rate of individuals who are vaccinated against COVID-19 of any state in the country, according to the New York Times. An estimated 95% of its residents of all ages have received at least one dose of the COVID-19 vaccine, according to the outlet’s tracker.
By comparison, 77.5% of the total U.S. population is fully vaccinated, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The Ocean State reported zero COVID-19 deaths Sunday, according to data from Johns Hopkins University.
