A return-to-work bonus that allows workers to keep $1,200, or 2 weeks of their $600 in extra unemployment payments, when returning to work makes "good economic sense," Rep. Kevin Brady said Friday, who along with Sen. Rob Portman, R-Ohio, has proposed the effort.
"It made sense to give people because we knew so many businesses were shut down," the Texas Republican said on CNBC's "Squawk Box." "There was no choice that there was going to be temporary unemployment. We think the focus ought to be making sure these 40 million Americans aren't permanently unemployed."
One of the keys to getting people back to work is a safe, healthy environment, said Brady. Allowing them to keep the money takes away the incentive to stay away from work and still draw the $600 extra payments.
"What we now know, according to the latest report is between two-thirds and three-fourths, depending on what state you're in, get paid more on the unemployment system today than they do at their previous job," said Brady. "That's going to make it tough for that business to be able to remake and rebuild their workforce and reopen again during this recovery."
He said the White House is looking at the measure, and he and Portman hope Democrats can be drawn to it as well.
"We know there are some labor unions that are equally concerned about what the impact of the current unemployment dollars benefits are for them as well," said Brady. "Unless we can reconnect these workers with those businesses soon, you know there's a likelihood that that business won't make it through this crisis and we need them to. That's the only way we get a strong recovery and avoid a prolonged recession, which is again really bad for those who are temporarily unemployed."
Sandy Fitzgerald ✉
Sandy Fitzgerald has more than three decades in journalism and serves as a general assignment writer for Newsmax covering news, media, and politics.
© 2024 Newsmax. All rights reserved.