(C) Iowa Capital Dispatch.
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Grassley: Iowa COVID-19 vaccine mandate exemptions are working

['Katie Akin', 'More From Author', '- January']

Date: 2022-02


Iowa’s broad exemptions to employer vaccine mandates are working, House Speaker Pat Grassley said Thursday.

“I’ve been hearing since we’ve gotten back here, from members … that they’re getting good feedback, now that there’s that clarity, that the exemption process is working,” Grassley, R-New Hartford, told reporters Thursday.

Lawmakers in October passed a law that requires employers to accept a wide range of exemptions to COVID-19 vaccine mandates. But some within the party, and anti-mandate activists, urged the state to go further, banning mandates outright.

Republican leadership said earlier this month that they would wait for a U.S. Supreme Court ruling on federal vaccine mandates before considering more legislation on the issue.

The Supreme Court overturned a federal vaccine mandate last week. Asked if House lawmakers planned to pursue more legislation on the issue, Grassley said they “shouldn’t be passing things just to pass them.”

“But like I’ve said all along, if the Legislature needs to act on things that come up, we should be prepared to do that,” he said.

Some within his caucus – and Republicans in the Senate – have proposed bills on the issue of vaccine mandates and incentives:

House File 2067 would prohibit employers from mandating vaccines “for which a biologics license application has not been approved.” That means vaccines still under an emergency use authorization could not be mandatory.

Senate File 2030 would allow Iowans to submit proof of immunity in lieu of proof of vaccination.

Senate Study Bill 3037 prohibits insurance companies from creating incentives to get the vaccine.

Rep. Jon Jacobsen, R-Council Bluffs, also announced a broad proposal to ban employer mask and vaccine mandates for all vaccines, not just COVID-19. A draft of that bill has not yet been posted online.

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