Amira Karaoud/Reuters
- Iowa will now permit staffers who were fired for refusing to get a COVID-19 vaccine to receive unemployment benefits.
- "No Iowan should be forced to lose their job or livelihood over the COVID-19 vaccine," said Republican Gov. Kim Reynolds.
- The effort comes as some states look to push back against Biden Administration vaccine mandates.
Iowa will now permit employees who were fired for refusing COVID-19 vaccinations to receive unemployment benefits.
The policy – which was signed into law by Republican Gov. Kim Reynolds on Friday in a 68-27 vote – allows Iowans to receive religious and medical exemptions from the vaccine, in addition to qualifying for unemployment if their positions are terminated.
The legislation creates a loophole for unemployment benefit eligibility, which is typically denied to individuals who are fired for violating company policies, as it is "considered misconduct," according to the Society for Human Resource Management.
"No Iowan should be forced to lose their job or livelihood over the COVID-19 vaccine," Reynolds said in a statement, according to the Associated Press.
While Reynolds herself is vaccinated, she has publicly opposed government mandates for both masks and vaccines, the Associated Press reported. In Iowa, a total of 6,965 people have died from COVID-19, according to publicly available state data.
The legislation comes amid efforts in some states to push back against Biden Administration policies to increase national rates of vaccination, including requiring vaccinations for federal workers, healthcare employees, and individuals at companies with more than 100 staffers.
In Iowa, a crowd of more than 100 people took to the Iowa Capitol to protest vaccine requirements on Thursday, including business owners bemoaning the possibility of increased unemployment insurance prices without governmental support, the Associated Press reported.
"I believe we have found a meaningful solution to protect Iowans and Iowa businesses from the Biden administration's extreme government overreach," Iowa House Speaker Pat Grassley said in a statement after the bill passed, according to the Des Moines Register.
Iowa joins fellow Republican-led states like Arizona, Florida, Montana, and Texas that have enacted policies to prohibit vaccine mandates as discussion continues over how such regulations should be handled at the state-level.
Meanwhile, many Democratic-led states have looked to both state and federal level mandates as a means to increase inoculation rates. In states like New York, an employee that does not comply with vaccine mandates must have a "valid request for accommodation" to receive benefits, according to the New York Department of Labor.