Pa. GOP wants to restore work-search rule for jobless benefits
Updated 8:07 PM;
Today 8:07 PM
A sign seeking to hire laborers is posted Wednesday, May 5, 2021, outside a concrete products company in Evans City, Pa. A bill by Pennsylvania s Republican-controlled Legislature to reinstate work-search requirements for people claiming unemployment benefits cleared the House Labor and Industry Committee on a party-line vote Tuesday. Labor and Industry Committee Chairman Jim Cox, R-Berks, contends that employers are having trouble finding workers, and that they often blame the additional $300 per week in federal unemployment benefits during the pandemic and the lack of a work-search requirement.AP Photo/Keith Srakocic
One survey shows that workers are not taking open jobs at a record rate
May 6, 2021
HARRISBURG (AP) Republicans in Pennsylvania’s GOP-controlled Legislature are advancing legislation to reinstate work-search requirements for people claiming unemployment benefits, with one survey showing that workers aren’t taking open jobs at a record rate.
The bill cleared the House Labor and Industry Committee on a party-line vote Tuesday.
Lawmakers suspended the work-search requirement through 2020 amid the pandemic last year, and Gov. Tom Wolf, a Democrat, extended the waiver administratively into this year. The bill would reinstate the requirement starting June 8.
Wolf’s office did not say whether he supports or opposes the bill, only that he would review it should it pass the Legislature.
Updated: 11:20 AM EDT May 5, 2021 MARC LEVY Associated Press Republicans in Pennsylvania s GOP-controlled Legislature are advancing legislation to reinstate work-search requirements for people claiming unemployment benefits, with one survey showing that workers aren t taking open jobs at a record rate.The bill cleared the House Labor and Industry Committee on a party-line vote Tuesday.Lawmakers suspended the work-search requirement through 2020 amid the pandemic last year, and Gov. Tom Wolf, a Democrat, extended the waiver administratively into this year. The bill would reinstate the requirement starting June 8.Wolf s office did not say whether he supports or opposes the bill, only that he would review it should it pass the Legislature.Wolf s office also did not say whether he plans to reinstate the work-search requirement, even as his administration prepares to drop his remaining pandemic restrictions on gatherings and business capacity starting on Memorial
The bill s sponsor, Labor and Industry Committee Chairman Jim Cox, R-Berks, contends that employers are having trouble finding workers, and that they often blame the additional $300 per week in federal unemployment benefits during the pandemic and the lack of a work-search requirement.
The extra $300 weekly is scheduled to last through the week ending Sept. 4. Pennsylvania reported about 255,000 initial and continued unemployment compensation claims last week.
Still, Wolf’s office said unemployment benefits only provide a portion of a worker’s lost wages, and countered that certain industries may have difficulty hiring workers because, for instance, some parents have children learning at home or some people are waiting for a second vaccine dose before returning to work.