Natural State News

Arkansas' Republican Gov. Asa Hutchinson disagrees with President Joe Biden's announcement of a coronavirus vaccine mandate or frequent testing for businesses with more than 100 employees. 

"I fully support continued efforts to increase vaccination rates across our nation, but the federal government mandates on private businesses are not the right answer,” Hutchinson said in a statement posted on Twitter.

Biden announced Sept. 9 that he would be requiring all private businesses that have more than 100 employees to have their employees either get the COVID-19 vaccine or get tested weekly, The Hill reported.

"I have been consistent in the freedom of businesses to require their employees to be vaccinated and I have opposed the government from saying businesses cannot exercise that freedom," Hutchinson said in his statement. "The same principle should protect the private sector from government overreach that requires them to vaccinate all employees." 

Hutchinson has allowed employers to implement vaccine and mask mandates in their businesses, according to The Hill. 

Biden received immediate backlash after revealing his plan to mandate vaccines on private employers, The Hill reported. 

In accordance with Biden's announcement and request, the Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration is "developing a rule that will require all employers with 100 or more employees to ensure their workforce is fully vaccinated or require any workers who remain unvaccinated to produce a negative test result on at least a weekly basis before coming to work," according to the White House website. "OSHA will issue an Emergency Temporary Standard (ETS) to implement this requirement. This requirement will impact over 80 million workers in private sector businesses with 100+ employees."