DECLARATION
on proposed Utah Open for Business Legislation
Small and independent businesses form the backbone of the Utah economy. In 2020, as a result of the response to the COVID-19 pandemic, businesses in Utah and around the globe found themselves in the midst of health department orders, forced closures, customer pressures and political rhetoric, and the need to make rushed decisions about controversial health issues just to survive.
2021 presents an even more dire situation for the business world, where we as business owners are being put in the position of becoming permanent medical police via the vaccine passport issue and pressure for mandatory vaccination for COVID-19. While individuals may have their reasons for or against taking vaccinations, we as business owners do not wish to take up this responsibility of enforcing vaccination status, either on our employees or for our customers, because of the implications for invasion of privacy, the increased operating costs associated with administration of vaccine status, and the potential to be held liable for adverse medical reactions as a result of mandated vaccination.
If, as advertised, Utah is friendly to businesses, then it is best if business owners are not coerced in any way by the health department or the Executive - or even directly or indirectly pressured by large organizations such as the Chambers of Commerce in Utah - into acting as medical enforcers as a condition of engaging in enterprise.
To this end, the undersigned pledge that:
- We support any legislation that upholds these ends and removes businesses from the position of medical law enforcement
- We support any legislation that safeguards the medical privacy of all parties involved in commerce
- We will not yield to coercion, overt or covert, that seeks to shut us down again, and we will support our fellow local businesses in this effort via an economic coalition