Arizona joins 24-state coalition against Biden Head Start mandates

(Elizabeth Troutman | The Center Square) – Arizona Attorney General Mark Brnovich has joined 24 other states in filing a lawsuit against President Joe Biden’s COVID-19 mask and vaccine mandates for staff and volunteers in Head Start programs.

Head Start programs provide children ages 3 to 5 and their families at or below the federal poverty level with early childhood education and resources. The Biden Administration’s mandates, which require vaccinations for teachers, contractors, and volunteers in Head Start programs by Jan. 31, will cost jobs and programs and “ultimately hurt children,” the Attorney General’s Office Dec. 21 news release said.

“The Biden Administration continues to expand efforts to impose illegal mandates on Americans, this time targeting young children and the people who serve them,” said Arizona Attorney General Mark Brnovich. “I have and will continue to challenge this misguided federal overreach and stand alongside our most vulnerable.”

Filed in Louisiana on Dec. 21, the suit says the Head Start Mandate is “beyond the Executive Branch’s authority, contrary to law, and arbitrary and capricious.”

The coalition of states is also seeking a preliminary injunction to prevent the mandate from going into effect. This is the fourth lawsuit the Arizona AGO has filed against “unconstitutional” COVID-19 vaccine mandates, the news release said.