A bill making it easier for Idaho residents to get worker compensation if they become ill after taking an employee-mandated vaccine sailed through the House and headed for the Senate on Tuesday.
The measure passed the House on a 67-3 vote. It was among seven COVID-19-related bills that the chamber pushed through with expedited voting and sent to the Senate.
Supporters said workers are getting sick after being vaccinated for COVID-19, and some are having problems receiving compensation. The bill tilts the field toward employees for compensation of hard-to-prove claims such as illnesses caused by vaccines, backers said.
“If the employer is telling you, you have to do this in order to work here, if they’re doing that, then, by golly, I think our system ought to provide a fair compensation method,” Democratic Rep. John Gannon said.
Bill opponents said Idaho’s worker compensation has worked well for decades and that workers sickened by vaccines are already being compensated.
Also heading to the Senate was a bill that would prohibit questioning the sincerity of people claiming religious exemptions from vaccinations. It passed 46-24 despite concerns it was merely a way for people to claim a religious exemption without any type of religious faith.
Also heading to the Senate, on a 42-28 vote, was a bill that allows exemptions to mask mandates in schools. Backers said that would put parents in charge, while opponents said local officials should be allowed to make decisions depending on the level of COVID-19 infections and deaths in an area.
Another bill aimed at preventing what backers call discrimination based on vaccine status passed the House 48-22.
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