Turner’s resolution seeks end to COVID unemployment funds Nancy Bergeron
Friday, June 4, 2021
State Rep. Chris Turner said he has no quarrel with the original intent of a Congressional decision upping unemployment benefits for workers laid off during the COVID-19 pandemic, but with the pandemic waning, it’s time for extra money to stop, and for people to go back to work.
To that end, Turner is asking the Louisiana Legislature to tell Congress to discontinue the pandemic unemployment money that critics say is allowing able-bodied workers to stay home.
Turner’s House Concurrent Resolution 109 is awaiting action from the Senate Labor and Industrial Relations Committee. The House passed the resolution on Tuesday by a vote of 69 to 24.
Worker misclassification bills advancing in Legislature
A Louisiana House committee approved a bill Thursday that seeks to change how state officials deal with employers that improperly classify their employees as independent contractors.
Employers pay taxes into the unemployment trust fund based on their employee payroll. Claiming that your employees are contract workers allows an employer to dodge those taxes, forcing companies that play by the rules to shoulder more of the burden to support the fund, some lawmakers and officials said.
House Bill 705 by Columbia Republican Rep. Neil Riser is awaiting a vote in the Senate. It would enhance penalties for misclassification and establish criteria to define who is or isn’t an employee. Penalties would be waived for a first offense if the employer gets into compliance within 60 days.
The Governor of Akwa Ibom State, Mr. Udom Emmanuel has described workers in the state as the engine room of his development and completion agenda while
Second Congressional District choose their next representative in the April 24 runoff.
With victory firmly in hand, U.S. Rep.-elect Troy Carter is wrapping up his work in Baton Rouge in preparation for his move to Washington, D.C. After his resignation today (April 29) from the Louisiana Senate, Senate President Page Cortez called the election for June 12 with a runoff if necessary on July 10. Qualifying will take place next week: May 5, 6 and 7.
Five diverse candidates are already considering the race for this West Bank seat: former state Sen. David Heitmeier, state Rep. Mack Cormier, state Rep. Rodney Lyons, Belle Chasse political insider Joanna Leopold, and Carter’s nephew, state Rep. Gary M. Carter Jr.