Can't have those lazy bastards laying around getting rich on unemployment!:
A year after enacting stricter requirements for receiving unemployment benefits, a new Republican bill would require Iowans to conduct more job searches to get them.
A Iowa Senate workforce subcommittee Tuesday advanced Senate Study Bill 1159. The bill would require a person applying for unemployment benefits to complete four to six job searches a week to earn benefits, depending on the number of job openings published by the state’s workforce agency. The more jobs available, the more work searches one must complete.
To maintain eligibility for unemployment benefits, Iowans currently are required to complete four re-employment activities each week, three of which must include job applications, according to Iowa Workforce Department.
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“To most people, if you’re unemployed and asked to do four, five or six job search requirements a week … that’s not a big ask,” said bill sponsor and committee chair Sen. Adrian Dickey, R-Packwood. Dickey said the intent is to build off last year’s law and get Iowans back to work sooner.
Unemployed workers in Iowa now receive 10 fewer weeks of state unemployment benefits under a new law that took effect last year. The law reduced the length of state unemployment benefits from 26 to 16 weeks, making Iowa just the fourth state with 16 weeks or fewer of state unemployment benefits.
The new law also changes the requirements for taking a job that pays less than the unemployed Iowan’s previous job. Republicans touted the new law as a way to encourage Iowans to take jobs sooner and to lower taxes on businesses, which are used to fund the state's unemployment trust fund.
Democrats and labor groups argue it attacks workers who lose their jobs through no fault of their own, and who may lack child care or transportation to a new job.
Work search requirement may be waived if the person is temporarily unemployed and expected to be recalled by a former employer within a reasonable time frame. In addition, the work search requirement is waived for state-approved workforce training.
Dickey’s bill, though, would remove language allowing the employer to request an extension to waive job search requirements for up to two weeks if work is not available at the conclusion of a temporary layoff due to unforeseen circumstances beyond the employer’s control.
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The bill defines “work search” as applying for a job by submitting a resume or application to a potential employer, interviewing for a job, or taking a civil service or military aptitude exam. Dickey, though, said the bill likely will be amended to align with existing departmental practice for satisfying the weekly search for work requirement.
At least half the work searches must be from a list of known available jobs within a 50-mile radius of the worker’s home in fields in which they have experience or identified an interest. The bill requires Iowa Workforce Development to provide a list of jobs weekly.
The proposal also reduces maximum weekly benefit amounts for out-of-work Iowans with three or more dependents. Currently, the more dependents a worker has increases the maximum allowable benefits.
Dickey said the measure is aimed at “preventing fraud’ by discouraging people from claiming more dependents than they have in order to receive more benefits.
Mike Owen, deputy director of Common Good Iowa, said the bill will weaken Iowa industries that have seasonal unemployment, including construction. Owen, too, said the work-search requirements are unnecessary, given the state’s success getting out-of-work Iowans back on their feet and into new jobs.
The percentage of Iowans collecting unemployment who exhausted their benefits dropped to 13.7 percent last fall, the second-lowest in the nation.
“Unemployment insurance is one of the most important tools we have to keep a strong, resilient workforce and economy,” Owen told lawmakers. “So this simply adds more work for IWD and it makes receiving unemployment insurance benefits more difficult for people who need it.”
Sen. Todd Taylor, D-Cedar Rapids, declined to sign off on advancing the bill, echoing concerns by Owen and labor groups that the bill needlessly reduces benefits and introduces barriers for unemployed Iowans in accessing a public safety net.
Taylor, too, noted that while the department currently lists more than 71,000 job openings across the state, many may not be relevant to some out-of-work Iowans’ particular skill set or be close to home.
Dickey responded: “We should aspire all Iowans to want more than unemployment benefits.”
“And your next job does not have to be your last job. It’s just got to be your next job,” he said. “And, maybe, that allows you to take a job that’s not your dream job right now, but it’s your next job until you find that dream job.”
Dickey and fellow subcommittee member Sen. Dawn Driscoll, R-Williamsburg, recommend passage, advancing the bill to the full Senate workforce committee.
www.thegazette.com
A year after enacting stricter requirements for receiving unemployment benefits, a new Republican bill would require Iowans to conduct more job searches to get them.
A Iowa Senate workforce subcommittee Tuesday advanced Senate Study Bill 1159. The bill would require a person applying for unemployment benefits to complete four to six job searches a week to earn benefits, depending on the number of job openings published by the state’s workforce agency. The more jobs available, the more work searches one must complete.
To maintain eligibility for unemployment benefits, Iowans currently are required to complete four re-employment activities each week, three of which must include job applications, according to Iowa Workforce Department.
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“To most people, if you’re unemployed and asked to do four, five or six job search requirements a week … that’s not a big ask,” said bill sponsor and committee chair Sen. Adrian Dickey, R-Packwood. Dickey said the intent is to build off last year’s law and get Iowans back to work sooner.
Unemployed workers in Iowa now receive 10 fewer weeks of state unemployment benefits under a new law that took effect last year. The law reduced the length of state unemployment benefits from 26 to 16 weeks, making Iowa just the fourth state with 16 weeks or fewer of state unemployment benefits.
The new law also changes the requirements for taking a job that pays less than the unemployed Iowan’s previous job. Republicans touted the new law as a way to encourage Iowans to take jobs sooner and to lower taxes on businesses, which are used to fund the state's unemployment trust fund.
Democrats and labor groups argue it attacks workers who lose their jobs through no fault of their own, and who may lack child care or transportation to a new job.
Work search requirement may be waived if the person is temporarily unemployed and expected to be recalled by a former employer within a reasonable time frame. In addition, the work search requirement is waived for state-approved workforce training.
Dickey’s bill, though, would remove language allowing the employer to request an extension to waive job search requirements for up to two weeks if work is not available at the conclusion of a temporary layoff due to unforeseen circumstances beyond the employer’s control.
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The bill defines “work search” as applying for a job by submitting a resume or application to a potential employer, interviewing for a job, or taking a civil service or military aptitude exam. Dickey, though, said the bill likely will be amended to align with existing departmental practice for satisfying the weekly search for work requirement.
At least half the work searches must be from a list of known available jobs within a 50-mile radius of the worker’s home in fields in which they have experience or identified an interest. The bill requires Iowa Workforce Development to provide a list of jobs weekly.
The proposal also reduces maximum weekly benefit amounts for out-of-work Iowans with three or more dependents. Currently, the more dependents a worker has increases the maximum allowable benefits.
Dickey said the measure is aimed at “preventing fraud’ by discouraging people from claiming more dependents than they have in order to receive more benefits.
Mike Owen, deputy director of Common Good Iowa, said the bill will weaken Iowa industries that have seasonal unemployment, including construction. Owen, too, said the work-search requirements are unnecessary, given the state’s success getting out-of-work Iowans back on their feet and into new jobs.
The percentage of Iowans collecting unemployment who exhausted their benefits dropped to 13.7 percent last fall, the second-lowest in the nation.
“Unemployment insurance is one of the most important tools we have to keep a strong, resilient workforce and economy,” Owen told lawmakers. “So this simply adds more work for IWD and it makes receiving unemployment insurance benefits more difficult for people who need it.”
Sen. Todd Taylor, D-Cedar Rapids, declined to sign off on advancing the bill, echoing concerns by Owen and labor groups that the bill needlessly reduces benefits and introduces barriers for unemployed Iowans in accessing a public safety net.
Taylor, too, noted that while the department currently lists more than 71,000 job openings across the state, many may not be relevant to some out-of-work Iowans’ particular skill set or be close to home.
Dickey responded: “We should aspire all Iowans to want more than unemployment benefits.”
“And your next job does not have to be your last job. It’s just got to be your next job,” he said. “And, maybe, that allows you to take a job that’s not your dream job right now, but it’s your next job until you find that dream job.”
Dickey and fellow subcommittee member Sen. Dawn Driscoll, R-Williamsburg, recommend passage, advancing the bill to the full Senate workforce committee.
Republicans propose more changes to Iowa unemployment process
A year after enacting stricter requirements for Iowans who receive unemployment, a new Republican bill would require Iowans to conduct more job searches in order to earn benefits.
www.thegazette.com
