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GOP bill: People who quit job over vaccine mandate can collect unemployment

MADISON (WKOW) — 27 News on Thursday obtained a copy of a bill that would make people eligible for unemployment benefits if they quit their job over a vaccine mandate.

Check out all of our political coveragehere.

Currently under Wisconsin law, people are not able to collect unemployment pay if they leave a job on their own.

The memo circulating the bill around the legislature for co-sponsorships lists Rep. Rob Brooks (R-Saukville), Rep. Dan Knodl (R-Germantown), Rep. Rick Gundrum (R-Slinger), and Sen. Duey Stroebel (R-Cedarburg) as its authors.

The bill's circulation was first reported byTone Madison.

Under Wisconsin law, workers are also not allowed to collect unemployment pay if they're fired for "misconduct" or "substantial fault." The bill would establish refusing to comply with a vaccine mandate cannot be considered misconduct or substantial fault.

The bill's lead sponsors in each chamber, Brooks and Stroebel, did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Rep. Mark Spreitzer (D-Beloit) called the bill "politics at its worst."

“It seems Republicans only want to give unemployment benefits to the very people who are putting our state at risk for another crushing wave of COVID-19 hospitalizations by refusing to get vaccinated," Spreitzer said in an email.

In recent weeks, Republican lawmakers have called for the state to stop accepting the extra $300 in weekly unemployment benefits supplied by the federal government.

In recent years, the state GOP passed bills making it harder to qualify for unemployment, including drug testing and stronger work search requirements, andremoving exceptionsfor people quit a job if they were working multiple jobs at the time.

The bill's drafting comes during the same week protestors rallied at the Capitol against vaccine mandates. The rally included a number of healthcare workers upset with the state's largest healthcare providers announcing they'd soon be requiring workers to get vaccinated.

More at WKOW 27 News


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