Union and industry representatives are at odds about how a proposal to cut unemployment benefits could impact Iowa s broader economy.
The Republican-led Iowa House Labor Committee approved the legislation just after midnight Tuesday, following a contentious 5½-hour hearing. Republicans say the measure will allow businesses to pay lower taxes and hire more workers.
Reacting later Tuesday, union and labor federation members said decreasing payments to laid-off workers will hurt Iowa communities.
They argued that claimants will barely be able to their pay their bills and won t have money to spend at local restaurants or other shops. This legislation is hurting people, and it s an attack on our local economy, Scott Punteney, president of the Western Iowa Labor Federation, said during a news conference on the bill. The money that people get from unemployment, they re not putting (it) in the bank and waiting. They re spending it immediately on things they need: food, clot
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Lawmakers proposed reductions in Iowa unemployment benefits
Republicans in the legislature are considering changes they say will ensure the taxes businesses pay into the state’s unemployment trust fund don’t go up.
The bill would impose a one-week waiting period before workers would be eligible to receive unemployment.
During a news conference organized by the Iowa Federation of Labor, Kelli Harrison, a UAW member from Marshalltown, said Iowa manufacturing plants are notorious for short-term layoffs.
“Do we really want to go after these workers? Do we want to take a week’s worth of pay because they were laid off through no fault of their own during a time when unemployment funds are not depleted?” she asked.
Iowa House changes would constrict unemployment benefits thegazette.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from thegazette.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.