Republican State Rep. Jon Jacobsen said the state of Iowa needs to immediately call a special session to address to the OSHA mandate and provide protection for employees.
“We have a special task force panel established at this juncture to address this emergency,” Jacobsen said. “Please urge support for its work.”
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis said during a press conference that legislators in the state would return for a special legislative session on Nov. 15 to work on a bill providing employee protections.
Iowa lawmakers passed a bill last week that forces employers to approve medical and/or religious waiver requests from COVID vaccine mandates. It also said employees fired due to vaccination status could not be disqualified from unemployment.
There are only two ways the Iowa legislature would meet for a special session — two-thirds of the legislators in each chamber call for a special session or Gov. Kim Reynolds calls for it.
Republicans have a 60-40 majority in the Iowa House, but it is far from a lock that even all 60 Republicans would support a bill going any further on protections for Iowa employees, let alone six more Democrats willing to call for the special session.
