Sen. Rob Portman: Fight emerges over unemployment benefits in next COVID relief bill
Republican Senator Rob Portman, R-Ohio, wants a provision in the next COVID-19 relief bill to address unemployed workers who are receiving more money in federal benefits quarantining at home than they normally would under their regular salary if they were to return to work.
Republican Senator Rob Portman, R-Ohio, wants a provision in the next COVID-19 relief bill to address unemployed workers who are receiving more money in federal benefits quarantining at home than they normally would under their regular salary if they were to return to work. Portman is concerned as the economy reopens that there could be a "disincentive" to return to full employment.
“I’m hearing from a lot of small business employers in Ohio who are ready to go, ready to start reopening again, that it’s been very difficult for them to get workers to come back when they can make more, sometimes substantially more on unemployment insurance,” Portman said.
The $3 trillion stimulus bill passed by the House last week called for an extension of the $600 a week in additional unemployment benefits beyond July, when it was set to expire.
The $600 flat rate was done because the federal government didn’t have confidence in state governments’ unemployment offices to conduct wage replacement numbers on an individual basis.
Portman is calling for those that are unemployed to keep $450 of the $600 a week they’re getting as a type of “return to work” bonus -- but it would expire at the end of July.
“Our proposal is very simple, if you're willing to go back to work then you would actually get a bonus, a back-to-work bonus out of that $600. The number we have used is $450 because that would make everyone level with minimum wage in every state in America," said Portman.
One study done by three economists at the University of Chicago found 68 percent of unemployed workers were receiving benefits that exceeded their lost earnings.
Some low-wage workers in food service and janitorial industries were found to be receiving more than 150 percent of their previous weekly salaries in the study.
Portman also called on more new funding for certain cities facing dire budget shortfalls with a loss of tax revenue due to the pandemic. He lamented that those funds already appropriated aren't getting to municipalities fast enough.
“I think some municipalities are going to need more help because their revenues are so short. ... Ohio is an example, none of the money has gone down to [the] local government yet. ... A lot of their revenue sources are drying up. They can’t pay police, fire, EMS, basic public safety," Portman said.
The Center on Budget and Policy Priorities said, "State budget shortfalls from COVID-19’s economic fallout could total $650 billion over three years."
Portman also had direct words for the Trump administration over the firing of the State Department’s Inspector General Steve Linick. Reports have suggested that Secretary of State Mike Pompeo had asked President Trump to fire Linick over the IG's probes into possible misuse of a political appointee at the State Department to perform personal tasks for Pompeo and his wife.
Secretary of State Mike Pompeo speaks about the coronavirus during news conference at the State Department in Washington on Wednesday, May 6, 2020. (Kevin Lamarque/Pool Photo via AP)
Portman acknowledged that under the U.S. Constitution the president has the right to remove anyone working in the executive branch and that those individuals serve at the pleasure of the president.
But the senator still wants answers: “I’ve said publicly and privately to the administration that I believe they ought to follow the law that requires a 30-day notice to Congress and provides a reason and rationale for the firing. ... My sense is that the administration is thinking about that and said the president has lost confidence in the individual, we need to know why the president has lost confidence in the individual."
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