KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Missouri Gov. Mike Parson said Friday that he isn't ruling out a special legislative session to challenge President Joe Biden's plan to mandate COVID-19 vaccination or testing for major portions of the American workforce.
Parson told The Star in a brief interview that Missouri will fight the White House initiative on "multiple fronts." He offered few details on the effort, but left open the possibility of a special session.
"I don't plan on letting that happen in Missouri," Parson, a Republican, said of the mandate-or-testing proposals. "I think the president is totally wrong on the policy he's setting forth."
Under Biden's plan, employers with more than 100 workers will have to either require vaccination or conduct regular testing, which the White House estimates will affect 80 million people across the country. Hospitals and other health care providers that participate in Medicare or Medicaid will also have to vaccinate staff. Federal workers and federal contractors will also have to vaccinate.
Regulations to implement the plan are being developed by federal agencies. Parson's remarks make clear that the directives will face legal challenges from Republican officials around the country.
"This is not about freedom or personal choice. It's about protecting yourself and those around you — the people you work with, the people you care about, the people you love," Biden said during a Thursday speech at the White House. "My job as president is to protect all Americans."
After rising modestly through July and the first half of August, the number of Americans receiving their first dose has been falling in recent weeks. But the highly-contagious delta variant is continuing to spread across the country, pushing infections to levels not seen since winter.
In Missouri, about 53% of people eligible for vaccination — those 12 and older — have received at least one shot, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Nationally, more than 73% of all people eligible have gotten at least one dose.
Parson is already facing calls for a special session from some Republican lawmakers. The General Assembly will meet next week for veto session, providing the governor an opportunity to authorize an additional session without having to recall legislators to Jefferson City.
Senate Majority Leader Caleb Rowden, a Columbia Republican, said on Twitter Thursday the legislature should take action "ASAP." Rowden didn't respond to questions.
Rep. Tony Lovasco, O'Fallon Republican, sent Parson a letter asking that legislators be allowed to address the Biden plan.
Biden's announcement rises to the level of an "immediate response," Lovasco wrote. The directives "amount to direct coercion" by the federal government, he added.
Parson has a complicated history with special sessions. He called one last year to address violent crime and proposed a suite of measures. Lawmakers only passed one and held up his most ambitious and controversial proposal, to give the attorney general power to take over St. Louis murder cases.
Parson called another special session earlier this summer to reauthorize a tax crucial to funding Medicaid. Lawmakers approved the tax but only after Parson was forced to face off with hard-right senators over abortion.
When pressed Friday on whether Missouri's response to Biden would involve a lawsuit by Attorney General Eric Schmitt or a special session, Parson responded that "I think multiple fronts we're going to fight that on."
The governor made the remarks outside a Kansas City McDonald's while participating in "Red Flag Day," when Kansas City Chiefs flags are sold at McDonald's locations.
Schmitt has all but said he will bring a lawsuit or sign onto a legal challenge to the requirements. The attorney general, running in the Republican race for U.S. Senate, has previously filed a series of suits against local mask mandates across MIssouri, including in Kansas City and Jackson County, and is also critical of vaccine mandates.
"We must continue to fight back against the unprecedented accumulation of power under the guise of COVID. It won't stop with vaccine mandates," Schmitt tweeted Thursday.
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(The Star's Jeanne Kuang contributed reporting.)
