WASHINGTON – U.S. Senators Jerry Moran (R-Kan.) and Roger Marshall, M.D. (R-Kan.) and U.S. Representatives Ron Estes (KS-04), Jake LaTurner (KS-02) and Tracey Mann (KS-01) today sent a letter to Kansas Governor Laura Kelly calling on her to help get Kansans back to work by halting the increased federal unemployment benefits.
Earlier this year, Democrats passed legislation without any support from Republicans that provided an additional $300 per week in federal unemployment benefits, creating a situation where many Americans are better compensated for staying unemployed rather than returning to work. The letter follows the release of a U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) report showing an uptick in the unemployment rate to 6.1% and employers only adding 266,000 jobs last month, despite widespread projections of over one million jobs to be gained in April.
“Across the state, we’re hearing more and more from businesses searching for the employees they need to reopen yet struggling to make hires due to the generous benefits offered through the unemployment system,” the Kansas GOP delegation wrote. “The extension of the generous $300 per week in additional federal benefits until September, when coupled with the extended state benefits, provides a lucrative government incentive to stay home despite clear signs that the economy is recovering and life is trending toward normal…We must end the federal incentive to stay home so that we can truly reopen the economy, provide Kansans with meaningful and purposeful work, and get our country back to normal.”
Sen. Moran cosponsored the Back to Work Bonus Act last week that would allow states to use Federal Pandemic Unemployment Compensation funds to provide a one-time, lump sum payment to incentivize workers to return to the workplace after employer verification of their hours and earnings.
The full letter can be found below.
Dear Governor Kelly,
We write today to urge you to end the pandemic-related federal unemployment benefit programs in Kansas. Across the state, we’re hearing more and more from businesses searching for the employees they need to reopen yet struggling to make hires due to the generous benefits offered through the unemployment system.
In April, the U.S. economy was projected to add close to one million jobs, building on the momentum of increasing vaccinations and over 900,000 jobs added in March. However, the April jobs report from the U.S. Department of Labor shows that only 266,000 jobs were added nationally, despite over 8 million jobs being available across the country. The extension of the generous $300 per week in additional federal benefits until September, when coupled with the extended state benefits, provides a lucrative government incentive to stay home despite clear signs that the economy is recovering and life is trending toward normal.
The continuation of the additional federal unemployment compensation benefits means that, on average, recipients are earning $15-20 per hour to stay home. For many in the hospitality or restaurant industries, these extended temporary benefits provide more than or equal to what an employer can offer. Other sectors of the economy, such as manufacturing, construction, and transportation, are also feeling the impacts of these generous federal incentives. Unemployment insurance was never meant to be a permanent salary replacement, rather the benefit is meant to provide temporary assistance to those who had involuntarily lost their jobs while they searched for new employment opportunities.
After months of pandemic related stay-at-home orders and government-imposed lockdowns, businesses are ready to reopen and welcome back customers, but are unable to incentivize workers to return to the job. Vaccination rates are increasing across the country, and in Kansas the coronavirus case count is only 7% of what it was in January of this year. With the sharp decline in new cases nationally, the Centers for Disease Control recently announced that fully vaccinated Americans do not need to social distance or wear masks indoors. It’s clear that we have the virus under control, and now we must do everything we can to get people back to work and kids back in schools.
We have made great strides to develop safe and effective vaccines, allowing people to return to work or school without fear while putting our country on the right track to achieve herd immunity. We must end the federal incentive to stay home so that we can truly reopen the economy, provide Kansans with meaningful and purposeful work, and get our country back to normal.