Des Moines, Iowa — The Iowa Senate has sent the governor a bill to ban state and local governments in Iowa from issuing I-D cards that show they got a COVID-19 shot.
Senate President Jake Chapman, a Republican from Adel, opposes the idea of so-called “vaccine passports.:
A month ago, Governor Reynolds called on legislators to pass the bill. Iowa employers may still ask employees if they’ve been vaccinated, but the bill forbids businesses, non-profits, and other institutions from requiring customers and visitors to provide proof they’ve been vaccinated. Chapman was the only senator to speak before votes were cast.
The bill provides an exception so hospitals, nursing homes, and other health care facilities may ask patients and visitors whether they’ve had a Covid shot. Thirty Republicans and two Democrats voted for the bill. The Senate’s Democratic leader has suggested the odds the state would ever issue vaccine passports are about equal to the chances he’ll be the Green Bay Packers quarterback and the bill’s not needed.
