Gov. Kim Reynolds signs law allowing Iowans fired for defying COVID vaccine mandates to get unemployment - desmoinesregister.com

Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds has signed a law that will give employees wider latitude to claim medical and religious exemptions from COVID-19 vaccination mandates and would allow people fired for not complying to receive unemployment benefits.

“I am proud to sign this bipartisan piece of legislation today," Reynolds said in a statement Friday. "This is a major step forward in protecting Iowans’ freedoms and their abilities to make healthcare decisions based on what’s best for themselves and their families. This legislation also gives employees the assurance that they will still receive unemployment benefits despite being fired for standing up for their beliefs."

Despite swift objection from the business community and Iowans who broadly object to vaccine mandates, the Iowa Legislature passed the legislation Thursday evening. It received support from most Republicans as well as several Democrats, passing the House 68-27 and the Senate 45-4.

Iowa's Republican lawmakers had been working for weeks to figure out legislation that addresses a federal mandate that could soon require employees at businesses with more than 100 employees to receive the COVID-19 vaccine or undergo weekly testing.

Some Democrats supported the legislation on Thursday, including some who said they supported expanding unemployment benefits. Others criticized it, including for the effects it could have on employers and on Iowa's unemployment trust fund.

And the legislation also faced opposition from the other side: Organizers of a Thursday Capitol rally in opposition of mandates said it didn't go far enough. They support banning mandates altogether.

More:As Biden vaccine mandates loom, protests for personal freedoms swell. What happens next?

The Iowa Association of Business and Industry, which disagrees with the Biden administration's plan to mandate vaccines or testing, also opposed the law, saying the new law puts employers at risk of facing federal penalties for not complying with the federal mandate. It also could mean businesses pay more into Iowa's unemployment trust fund if a large number of employees end up qualifying for unemployment.

"To ABI's knowledge, no other state has passed similar legislation," an ABI statement issued Friday said.

Reynolds, who is vaccinated, said in her statement that she believes the vaccine is the best defense against the virus but that Iowans should not be forced to lose their job over the vaccine. Reynolds said that the new law "is only the first step."

"We will be taking other legal actions against the Biden administration’s vaccine mandate," she said.

The law specifies that employees who refuse the vaccine and are fired would not be disqualified from benefits.

The law additionally says employers "shall" waive a vaccine requirement for an employee who submits a statement that receiving the vaccine would be "injurious" to their health or well-being, or that it conflicts "with the tenets and practices" of a religion the employee adheres to or belongs to.

The statement would not need to be attested by a physician or a faith leader, Republicans said Thursday.

Religious and medical exemptions for employee vaccination requirements are already allowed under federal law. The new law, however, would add sections to Iowa code that specify the process for religious and medical exemptions.

The additional section in state law appears to give employees more latitude to claim exemptions than under federal law and could be interpreted as a "get out of jail free" card, said Denise Hill, an associate professor at Drake University who has written a book on vaccine mandates and also practices as an attorney and mediator with the Whitfield & Eddy law firm.

"It really could be received as giving people a loophole to work around these federal requirements that are being put in place to protect people in the workplace," Hill said Thursday.

Ian Richardson covers the Iowa Statehouse for the Des Moines Register. Reach him at [email protected], at 515-284-8254, or on Twitter at @DMRIanR.

source: https://www.desmoinesregister.com/story/news/politics/2021/10/29/iowa-covid-vaccine-mandate-law-expands-exemptions-gov-kim-reynolds/6193545001/

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