A bill was passed out of the Iowa House and Senate concerns banning COVID-19 vaccination passports.

District 24 Senator Jesse Green says the legislation aims to ban businesses and governmental buildings from requiring that customers or members of the public from showing proof that they have been vaccinated from COVID-19. However, Green notes healthcare facilities are exempt.

“The purpose of that is that we want to conform to federal government rules and regulations in regards to healthcare facilities. They have to adhere to different rules that other businesses don’t have to. I get the logic of that.”

Green points out there were some Republicans that thought this bill didn’t go far enough, while the Democrats claimed the bill wasn’t needed, because there haven’t been any issues with this topic. Green agrees with those Republicans that thought the bill didn’t go far enough.

“At the end of the day, this was a leadership bill that was dropped by the governor, our Senate Majority Leader (Jack) Whitver and (Representative Matt) Windschitl in the House. I made sure that my concerns were out there on the table. Senator Whitver is a lawyer and he’s really thought this issue out (and) obviously the governor has her attorneys as well. I trust their leadership and I trust that they took my concerns into consideration.”

Green adds the penalties if a company or an individual is found in violation of the policy, then state funding and state grant eligibility can be taken away. To hear more from Green, listen to today’s Community State Bank in Paton Let’s Talk Greene County program.