Proposed Illinois bill would make it illegal for workplaces to require COVID-19 vaccine
SPRINGFIELD, Ill. - A downstate Illinois lawmaker wants to make it illegal to deny someone a job over their vaccination status.
Republican State Rep. Adam Niemerg filed "The Freedom Act" this week.
The bill would prevent any person, public official or workplace from requiring the COVID-19 vaccine for anyone who chooses not to get it.
Niemerg says the bill would curb government overreach.
However, with a Democratic supermajority in Springfield, it has little chance of getting passed.
Meanwhile, a Democratic state lawmaker has proposed a bill that would require residents who refuse to get the COVID-19 vaccine to pay for their own bills if they end up hospitalized with the virus.
Democratic State Rep. Jonathan Carroll’s bill states "a person who is eligible to receive a COVID-19 vaccine and chooses not to be vaccinated shall pay for health care expenses out-of-pocket if the person becomes hospitalized because of COVID-19 symptoms."
The proposed bill would apply to "a group or individual policy of accident and health insurance that is amended, delivered, issued, or renewed on or after January 1, 2023."
"I think it’s time that we say ‘You choose not to get vaccinated, then you’re also going to assume the risk that if you do catch COVID, and you get sick, the responsibility is on you,’" Carroll told the Chicago Sun-Times.