U.S. Sen. Portman Floats UC Alternative To Get Furloughed Employees Back To Work
Recently, U.S. Senator Rob Portman (R-OH) floated a proposal to eliminate the current $600 per week unemployment benefit for furloughed employees and instead give them $450 per week if they returned to work before the end of July.
The effort is in response to small businesses’ complaints that the CARES Act’s $600 weekly unemployment supplement has made it harder to bring back furloughed workers or hire additional employees.
The White House has signaled that it may support a return-to-work incentive and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) has made clear that extending the $600 weekly unemployment benefit provided in the $2.2 trillion CARES Act is a non-starter for Republicans in negotiations over the next COVID-19 response package.
