East Central Reporter

State Sen. Darren Bailey lauded the Occupational Safety and Health Administration’s suspension of the federal government’s new employer vaccine rule.

OSHA published a statement on its website saying it has suspended activities related to the mandate as legal action remains pending.

“This is a victory for freedom, working families, and businesses,” Bailey tweeted on Nov. 17.

The senator, who’s looking to unseat Gov. J.B. Pritzker in the 2022 election, further asserted that his potential Democratic rival and Pres. Joe Biden lack the authority to implement a mandate.

The Hill reported that the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals earlier this month issued a 22-page ruling that the Biden administration’s COVID-19 vaccine and testing mandate was “fatally flawed.” Consequently, the court directed OSHA to “take no steps to implement or enforce the mandate until further court order.”

Illinois’s COVID-19 mandates and protocols have been a source of anger and frustration for Bailey and his fellow Republican state leaders.

The senator accused Pritzker and the Democrats of forsaking the Prairie State’s working families by approving an amendment to the Illinois Health Care Right of Conscience Act of 1978 that prevents the law from being used as a loophole to avoid complying with COVID mandates, the Prairie State Wire reported.

Pritzker signed the amendment into law on Nov. 8.

Bailey, who voted against the amendment, tweeted, “He continues to strip individual freedoms and make decisions that should be between an individual and their doctor one that is met with continued government force.”

According to the publication, the gubernatorial candidate advocates vaccines as an effective weapon against the coronavirus but doesn’t believe people should be forced to be inoculated.

Vowing to work “to fight for working families,” he declared his campaign will “fire Pritzker and get Illinois working again.”