The more than 700 pages of rules spelling out federal COVID-19 mandates the Department of Labor and Centers for Medicare & Medicaid released Thursday are unconstitutional, Gov. Asa Hutchinson said.
The rules implementing mandates President Joe Biden announced in September require companies with 100 or more employees to test their unvaccinated workers weekly and make them wear a mask. The mandate goes into effect Jan. 4 and doesn't apply to state and local governments or public schools, Hutchinson said.
"In terms of the OSHA rules, I think there is a significant constitutional challenge," he said Thursday during a press conference at the state Capitol. "This is the first time in history that the federal government has come in and usurped the authority of the states in a public health matter, has dictated to our businesses at a very small business level that they have to incur these costs, risk losing employees.
"In a time of supply shortages, the last thing we need is to lose workers and drivers for trucking companies that are so critical to having the supplies we need in society today and to keep our economy moving."
Hutchinson said his office will support litigation the state attorney general's office plans to file against the mandate. He's instructed department heads in the executive branch of state government to prepare comments concerning the CMS mandate, which is more restrictive than the Labor Department's rules.
All staff at CMS-regulated health care facilities have to be vaccinated by Jan. 4. The mandate doesn't include a testing alternative.
"On the CMS rules, that is more difficult, because they have the purse-string that is attached to that and they can jeopardize funding," Hutchinson said. "They have agreements with us. That's something we're going to have to look at more closely and see if there's any good avenue to challenge it legally and constitutionally.
"If not, we're going to try to influence it in terms of commenting on the rules and providing that testing alternative. ... Whenever you've got money flowing from the federal government for Medicaid and Medicare, that would be a huge loss to the state that you do not want to happen."
As a service to our readers, The Sentinel-Record publishes updates released by the city of Hot Springs and the state of Arkansas.
The Arkansas Department of Health is no longer reporting confirmed and probable cases separately. The following stats were posted Thursday on the Health Department's website:
• 514,967 cumulative cases, up 428 from Wednesday.
• 426.14 rolling seven-day average of new cases, down 12.72 from Wednesday.
• 4,107,410 PCR test results, up 4,729 from Wednesday.
• 9.2% cumulative PCR infection rate, no change from Wednesday.
• 4,479 active cases, down 17 from Wednesday.
• 1,153 active juvenile cases, down 11 from Wednesday.
• 501,894 recoveries, up 427 from Wednesday.
• 4,182,400 vaccine doses received, up 5,800 from Wednesday.
• 3,177,343 doses given, up 11,995 from Wednesday.
• 308 hospitalizations, down 23 from Wednesday.
• 79 cases on ventilators, down nine from Wednesday.
• 133 ICU patients, down 15 from Wednesday.
• 8,452 deaths, up 18 from Wednesday.
• 2,257 nursing home deaths, up one from Wednesday.
• 16,016 cumulative cases in Garland County, up six from Wednesday.
• 6.43 rolling seven-day average of new cases, down 1.57 from Wednesday.
• 161,439 PCR and antigen test reports, up 201 from Wednesday.
• 10.2% cumulative PCR infection rate, no change from Wednesday.
• 71 active cases in Garland County, down 10 from Wednesday.
• 15,549 recoveries in Garland County, up 16 from Wednesday.
• 396 deaths, no change from Wednesday.