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.
90.5 WESA Two people hold signs at a rally in support of unemployed people in downtown Pittsburgh on Wednesday, March 10, 2021.
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.
To replace lost jobs and incomes, the economy needs entrepreneurs to fill the void with business startups. During the economic downturn a decade ago, the business startup rate fell and never fully recovered, which contributed to a slow recovery. Even before that, the startup rate had been trending down since the 1980s. That is troubling because startups play crucial roles in the economy. They create most net new jobs. They are a key source of innovation because new products are often pioneered by new companies. And they challenge dominant firms, which helps to restrain prices and expand consumer choices.
This report argues that state and local policymakers should slash regulatory barriers to startup businesses. State governments should repeal certificate of need requirements and minimum wage laws, liberalize occupational licensing and restaurant alcohol licensing, and fully legalize marijuana and hemp businesses. Local governments should reduce and simplify permitting and licensi
US Small Businesses Struggling To Find Workers
May 05, 2021
FILE - This photo provided by Hannah Albert on Sept. 23, 2020 shows Steve Klatt, left, and Brandon Lapp, owners of Braised in the South, a Johns Island, S.C, restaurant and food truck business that is having trouble finding workers during the pandemic.
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But in many cases, the jobs go unfilled even as the economy improves.
The
lack of workers is hurting small businesses’ ability to keep up with demand for their products and services.
Owners say that some possible job candidates are not seeking employment because they worry about getting COVID-19. Others choose to continue with the increased unemployment