INDIANAPOLIS – Indiana House Republicans are moving forward with a measure to limit COVID-19 vaccine mandates by private employers, amending the bill to remove unemployment-related penalties for businesses.
Amendments to House Bill 1001 were voted on as the U.S. Supreme Court ruled to end OSHA’s COVID-19 vaccine or testing mandate for businesses with 100 or more employees, giving Indiana’s bill a larger impact if it becomes law.
The U.S. Supreme Court ruled in favor of the Biden administration’s vaccine mandate for health care workers Thursday.
House Bill 1001 would allow employees at private businesses to opt-out of their employers’ vaccine mandates as long as they submit to weekly testing.
“I’m obviously pro-vaccination, encourage people to get vaccinated,” said House Speaker Todd Huston (R-Fishers). “But it’s an individual responsibility.”
One amendment approved Thursday would ban contracts or agreements with employees from including COVID-19 vaccine requirements.
Another amendment removes a requirement that businesses pay penalties to cover the cost of unemployment benefits for employees whose exemptions are denied.
As the bill stands now, those workers could still apply for those benefits.
“The only people that actually get penalized are the people that are good employers, that very seldom lay people off, that very seldom fire people,” said State Rep. Dan Leonard (R-Huntington), who explained why he advocated for the change.
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