Gov. Holcomb ends COVID-19 public emergency after nearly 2 years

Gov. Eric Holcomb signed an executive order ending the COVID-19 public health emergency Thursday night after nearly two years, days before the emergency was poised to expire.

The House approved a measure Thursday allowing for the continuation of enhanced Medicaid and food assistance benefits, as well as enabling children under age 12 to receive a COVID-19 vaccination outside a doctor's office. Previously those provisions were only allowed because of the public health emergency. Holcomb had requested all three provisions before he would commit to ending the emergency.

Hours later Holcomb signed House Bill 1001.

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That same bill also implemented new restrictions on private COVID-19 vaccines in Indiana. The legislation puts into state law federal requirements that require employees to grant medical or religious exemptions if employees go through the proper steps.

Employers also would have to allow for exemptions for those who test positive for antibodies due to "natural immunity" in the previous three months. Employers would be allowed to require those who qualified for the exemptions to get tested for COVID-19 up to twice per week.

Most health care employees are exempted, as required by federal rules. Professional sports organizations and entertainment venues also are exempted.

The vaccine mandate provision, once opposed by Holcomb himself and the business community, was significantly watered down since it was first introduced. Moderate Republicans and most Democrat supported those changes so the bill had more support in the House than the initial version the chamber voted on.

Thursday's vote was 78-10.

House Speaker Todd Huston, R-Fishers, said on Thursday that the issue of vaccine mandates has changed since lawmakers started discussing it late last year. After the contagious omicron variant, the exemption for those who have natural immunity is more significant now, he said.

"We feel like we hit the appropriate balance of trying to find the right place, ending the state of emergency, getting those provisions in, and providing protections for individual liberties for Hoosier employees," Huston told reporters Thursday.

House Minority Leader Phil GiaQuinta, D-Fort Wayne, agreed that "it seemed to strike a better balance between keeping workplaces and communities safe while respecting religious and medical exemptions."

Some lawmakers still had concerns, including on the language dealing with vaccine mandates. Lawrenceburg Republican Sen. Chip Perfect, who owns Perfect North, said Hoosiers are better off without the bill just before the Senate voted on the legislation on March 1 by a 32-18 vote.

"We were dramatically opposed to the federal government imposing mandates upon our employers and employees, and our response to that is to impose a mandate on our employers," Perfect said. "It's completely illogical."

The law goes into effect immediately.

Call IndyStar reporter Kaitlin Lange at 317-432-9270. Follow her on Twitter: @kaitlin_lange.

This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: House Bill 1001: Gov. Holcomb ends Indiana COVID public health emergency