TUCSON, Ariz. (KGUN) — Pima County employees who have gotten vaccinated, or get their first shot by September 7, will be getting a $300 bonus. Supervisors say that money will be reimbursed through the American Rescue Plan. Qualifying employees will also get an extra three days of paid time off.
“I would be very willing to consider Supervisor Grijalva's motion to add three days of COVID leave as an incentive,” said Supervisor Rex Scott at Monday’s Board of Supervisors meeting. “But I would like to amend that motion to not consider the disincentives at this time.”
The board will be discussing the more complicated issue of disincentives for unvaccinated employees, like more expensive health insurance, at their next meeting which is also on September 7th. Governor orders and state law seemed to loom over much of the discussions. The board stopped short of mandating masks for K-12 schools, but did pass a resolution to support any school districts that choose to make their own mask mandate.
“What it really does is encourage local school boards to make a decision for their own communities and make the best choice for their schools,” said Supervisor Adelita Grijalva.
Supervisor Matt Heinz was clear he did not think the actions were strong enough.
“I will vote for this,’ he said. “But without masks being required county-wide or in schools I have to just warn people it is not safe to send your kids to school if everyone is not masking. And it is particularly unsafe for an unvaccinated parent or any other adult in the household.”
Heinz’s push to make vaccinations mandatory for Pima County healthcare workers will also be revisited at the next meeting.
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