Are Extra Unemployment Benefits Keeping People From Working?
So far, the evidence is not clear. A working paper put out by the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco suggested that the supplementary payments had a “small but noticeable” impact on Americans’ willingness to work, but could not be primarily responsible for the slow recovery in April.
One of the more significant – and expensive – measures in the Biden administration’s American Rescue Plan, passed by Congress in early March, was a $300-per-week federal unemployment benefit. These benefits are scheduled to expire on August 31, but 24 Republican-controlled states have cancelled them early, on the basis that federal unemployment benefits were discouraging prospective employees from returning to work. While many of these states have retained statewide unemployment benefits, some have also instituted restrictions on them, requiring recipients to show evidence that they are actively looking for work to be paid.
GOP-controlled Wisconsin Senate moves toward overturning mask mandate
January 26, 2021 6:30 PM Site staff
Updated:
(Associated Press photo)
MADISON, Wis. (WKBT) – The Republican-controlled Wisconsin State Senate approved a resolution Tuesday in their quest to end Gov. Tony Evers’ public health emergency declaration, which would overturn Evers’ statewide mask mandate if the Assembly passes it.
“For over nine months, the Republicans who control the Legislature have sat on their hands,” Senate Minority Leader Janet Bewley, D-Mason, said after the session. “Today was another missed opportunity to do the right thing and prioritize the health and safety of the Wisconsinites they are sworn to serve.