TOPEKA –Some members of the Kansas businesses community say COVID-19 legislation to protect workers from being fired for not getting vaccinated for religious or medical reasons could create unintended consequences.
According to a statement from the Kansas Chamber of Commerce, the Kansas business community expressed concerns about legislation introduced Tuesday by the Kansas Legislature’s Special Committee on Government Overreach and the Impact of COVID-19 Mandates.
On Thursday, Republican lawmakers succeeded in forcing a Thanksgiving-week special session of the Kansas legislature to consider financially protecting workers who refuse to comply with federal vaccine mandates.
There are GOP proposals to make it easier for workers to claim religious exemptions to vaccine mandates and to provide unemployment benefits to employees fired for not getting inoculated.
Kansas Chamber President and CEO Alan Cobb said the business community would welcome the opportunity to work with state lawmakers to fight the federal COVID-19 vaccination mandate but warned of unintended consequences of the potential legislation lawmakers will consider.
“Kansas businesses by and large do not want to mandate the COVID-19 vaccination because they know it will negatively impact their workforce and compound the lack of available workers even more,” said Cobb. “Kansas businesses from the beginning of the pandemic have led the way on determining how to keep their facilities and operations safe. They continue to be the best ones to decide whether a vaccine mandate or wearing face masks are the correct approaches for their companies.”
Cobb said also concerning is the potential impact the legislation could have on the state’s Unemployment Insurance Trust Fund. Based on current vaccination rates in Kansas, the state could expect to pay out $606 million to $5.6 billion dollars in unemployment benefits to those who lose their jobs because they refuse to follow a federal government mandate or an employer’s human resources policy.
“Allowing unemployment benefits as the proposed legislation recommends could cause significant financial harm to the state’s UI trust fund, negatively impact its solvency, and lead to increased taxes on the Kansas businesses who are struggling to recover from the pandemic,” said Cobb.