DES MOINES, IOWA (AP) -- Under legislation approved by the Iowa House, husbands and wives of deployed soldiers would be able to get jobless benefits if the deployment forces them to leave their jobs and relocate.
Critics warned that the measure is vaguely worded, and could crack the door open to a sharp jump in jobless benefit payments, eventually financed by businesses.
The House approved the measure 55-44 Tuesday, sending it to the Senate and likely approval there.
Under Iowa's unemployment system, workers who voluntarily leave their jobs generally aren't eligible for unemployment benefits. The new measure makes an exception for a spouse who leaves their job because the other spouse is deployed, and the "trailing spouse" finds it impossible to get by and gives up their job, often to move closer to family.
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