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Florida lawmakers considering bill to offer unemployment benefits to domestic violence survivors

Jacksonville, FL — Florida could soon be joining 41 other states, in offering unemployment benefits to survivors of domestic violence.

That's as state lawmakers are considering a bill to offer up to 12 weeks of compensation, if a survivor has to quit their job, so their abuser can't find them.

State Senator Audrey Gibson, who represents Jacksonville, introduced the measure which hopes to reduce the financial strain.

The CEO of Quigley House in Clay County, Ana Martinez-Mullen, tells our partner Action News Jax, a victim often stays with an abuser or goes back to them, because of financial considerations.

"Knowing that if you leave, you have the option of receiving benefits- that could help you fill that gap," says Mullen.

Under this bill, the money would come taxes that employers already pay per employee.

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