Federal Unemployment Bonus

Floor Speech

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Mr. FITZGERALD. Madam Speaker, I rise today to talk briefly on a topic that has come up numerous times already this morning. I just attended a meeting of the Small Business Committee in which we had an extensive discussion as well.

If you remember back when the CARES package was moving through Congress, there were a number of legislators who identified that an issue was being created that didn't need to necessarily be created, and that was additional dollars being set aside for those who would find themselves unemployed.

As a former State legislator in Wisconsin, I had kind of gone through a process back in 2008 and 2009, which basically was an unemployment insurance fund--and I would underscore the idea insurance--that was in the red. It was as a result of the number of unemployment claims that were being made in my State.

There was a nonpartisan commission that had been created to kind of oversee this process, without getting too far into the details. It had worked, where there had been some give and take. Employers and those who represented employers knew that there would be X amount of dollars taken out of everyone's payroll that would supplement or pay for the premiums associated with unemployment, and the system worked. But when the uptick came as a result of the economy sputtering at the time, it went into the red.

It is just a reminder, I think, of what we find ourselves kind of in the midst of right now. As I said, some earlier speakers referenced this. We have this $300-a-week bonus that so many people are calling it right now. And I get it; I am not trying to be too judgmental on people who actually find themselves in that position.

But what we are hearing from employers is that, as a result of the new dollars being in that unemployment system, it is doing two things. The first thing it is doing is obviously putting the regular private- sector market that employers are typically used to, and it is forcing them to kind of either increase wages to the point where it doesn't work for them. It just won't work for their small business model. They can't afford it and still be able to put out goods and services.

The other thing it does, though, is it keeps people on unemployment. So what we are experiencing in our State--and I think I am hearing that other States are experiencing the same thing, and I think we are up to 19 different States right now--Governors have made a decision to pull back on the $300 a week. It is certainly cratering these unemployment insurance pots again. They can't keep up with it.

So I am here today to just tell the constituents of Wisconsin and, really, nationwide, as we see State by State and the economy kind of moves in one direction, that there has to be a change. It is not even a partisan issue. Something has to give here in the short term, and I would certainly hope that President Biden would take a deeper look at this. I think the House and the Senate should actually move in a direction where there would be some type of reduction in these benefits very soon.

I am very worried about this whole idea that there are a number of individuals out there right now who, I think, find themselves in a position where, you know, they are going to wait. They are just going to wait. They are going to wait for September to come, they are going to wait for October to come before they really start to reengage.

The other thing in Wisconsin and other States that exists, when you are on unemployment insurance, you had to go out and look for a job. You know, you had to talk to employers and you had to develop your soft skills, which means, you know, making sure you are ready for work and you get to work on time. I am a little concerned that the pandemic has had a direct effect on that as well.

Madam Speaker, I just wanted to be here this morning to highlight these issues again. I would like to work with the other side of the aisle and I would like to work with the President to make sure that we can find a way of reversing what I think is a path that is really going to jeopardize our entire nationwide economy.

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Source