COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — The South Carolina Senate has passed a bill that would ban businesses from refusing to serve people who haven’t gotten the COVID-19 vaccine and prevent public employers from requiring the shots.
The Senate approved the bill 29-12 on Wednesday. Senators made changes to a House bill which that chamber passed in December, meaning the proposal returns to the House to see if it accepts those changes.
Senators initially put in a large unemployment tax penalty for private businesses that fired unvaccinated workers.
But instead they compromised to allow fired workers to collect unemployment benefits, retroactive to the last nine months.
