Rep. Taffy Howard calls for defunding businesses with vaccine mandates

RAPID CITY, S.D. (KEVN) - As people continue to get vaccinated against COVID-19, and cases of the highly contagious delta variant continue to rise, vaccination remains a hot button political issue across the nation.

State Representative Taffy Howard announced her plans to introduce legislation that would limit private businesses from making vaccination mandatory for employees.

Howard said that she supports Governor Kristi Noem in her criticism of shutdowns and mandates regarding the coronavirus.

She said that while she personally supports people getting vaccinated, she believes individuals have a choice if they want to get the shot or not.

”Maybe you’re one of those people that choose not to get it right now, but once it comes out of emergency use authorization and has full FDA approval, maybe then you will,” Howard said. “The bottom line is you should have the freedom to choose.”

Howard has filed paperwork to run in the Republican primary for the U.S. House of Representatives against incumbent Dusty Johnson.

She’s called on Johnson to bring forth legislation at the national level to ban certain private businesses from instituting their own vaccine mandates for employees.