Lansing — The Michigan House on Wednesday voted along party lines to extend unemployment aid eligibility from a maximum of 20 weeks a year to 26 weeks under a bill that was rushed to the floor with no hearings.The bill, if approved by the Senate and signed by Democratic Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, would make permanent an expansion of jobless benefits that was extended to workers during the COVID pandemic when business shutdowns caused mass layoffs. Republican former Gov. Rick Snyder signed a law reducing unemployment insurance eligibility from 26 weeks to 20 weeks in 2011.The expanded duration, sponsored by Detroit Democratic Rep. Karen Whitsett, would take effect in 2025. The bill passed through the House without any committee hearings and would have an unknown cost, according to a nonpartisan House Fiscal Agency analysis.Whitsett said the bill is “common sense” and acknowledged she was also looking at ways to raise the weekly unemployment amount from the current maximum of $362. Whitsett said an ideal new weekly jobless payment would be $600, but she was doubtful such a number would be supported.”When you look at 20 weeks, that’s really not a long time; 26 weeks definitely is something that is necessary,” Whitsett said. “Most people are nowhere near on unemployment anywhere near that amount of time. The average is like 13 and a half weeks. But I think to have someone not to have to go into (Family and Medical Leave Act leave), I think it’s worth it.”Several Republican lawmakers spoke out in opposition to the legislation, arguing it would give people less of an incentive to find a new job at a time when the state’s labor force participation ranks 39th in the nation. The state had 261,000 open jobs in January and 200,000 people seeking jobs, said Rep. Cam Cavitt, R-Cheboygan.”This bill does nothing more than force taxpayers and small businesses to pay unemployment salaries for people who are choosing to sit at home for six months,” Cavitt said.The National Federation of Independent Business in a Wednesday statement argued the expansion would burden businesses in desperate need of more workers and increase the responsibilities of an agency that struggled to manage the onslaught of pandemic claims.”When small business owners continue to struggle to find workers and survive a difficult economic climate, this legislation is a slap in the face,” said Amanda Fisher, state director for the NFIB.Michigan’s Unemployment Insurance Trust Fund, which pays out state unemployment benefits and is funded by payroll taxes levied on employers, had a balance of about $2.67 billion as of Monday.Whitmer has been supportive of an expansion of unemployment duration in recent years and temporarily expanded eligibility to 26 weeks through an executive order in 2020. Later that year, when the Republican-led Legislature temporarily codified the expansion in statute, Whitmer advocated for legislation that would make the expansion permanent.”Michiganders deserve better than a short-term extension that expires at the end of the year,” Whitmer said in 2020. “It’s time to work together on a long-term solution for working families.” eleblanc@detroitnews.com
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