Republican Attorney General Jeff Landry has filed a lawsuit seeking to block Governor John Bel Edwards’ plan to add COVID vaccines to the list of shots students are required to receive to attend schools and universities. One of the plaintiffs in the suit is Bossier City Representative Raymond Crews.
“This is purely has to do with the fact that governor has overstepped his bounds,” said Crews. “The Legislature is supposed to make the laws as most people that took some civics in school are aware and what happened here is that the governor has basically made a law by himself.”
At his end of the year press conference, Edwards is not surprised a lawsuit has been filed.
“I don’t believe that the Attorney General has stated a valid reason for challenging the way the rule was promulgated or my role in that process and we are going to let the courts sort that out,” said Edwards.
Edwards says he followed proper procedures in adding the COVID vaccine school schedule. However, Crews disputes that and says there’s a process to make . He says legislation goes through committee hearings, debated on the House and Senate floor, and voted on by the legislature, and then signed by the governor.
“So its supposed to be hard to make laws, they are not supposed to be easy to make, so whether he broadcast it to the world and said I’m going to do it, it’s still not the way you pass laws here,” said Crews.
Edwards says he fully expects the administrative procedures act will be upheld and pondered the thought of where the state would be vaccination rate-wise if there wasn’t opposition.
“How great it would be if the people who have spent so much time, effort and energy try to undermine confidence in the public and vaccines, how great it would have been had they put forth that same type of effort and energy in promoting the vaccinations,” said Edwards.
The state already requires students to be immunized against mumps, measles, and polio — before attending public and private K-12 schools, daycares, universities, and colleges.
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