If you’re collecting unemployment, you might soon be required to increase your work searches and keep your job interview appointments in order to keep your benefits. The House has passed H-B 153 by a vote of 73 to 24. It’s written by Lafayette Republican Troy Hebert, who says he’d heard from employers who have been stood up for job interviews.
Cut 13 (13) “…there with unemployment.”
Hebert says his bill is not creating anything new; instead, it would be codifying a system that has been in place for a year. He did, however, say that the number of weekly job searches would increase on the advice of the Louisiana Workforce Commission.
All but one of the 24 “no” votes were cast by Democrats. Among them was Matthew Willard of New Orleans, who expressed concerns that this was a way to get the state out of paying unemployment benefits.
Hebert pointed out that in the year that the system has been in place, only one-percent of those collecting unemployment benefits were subsequently deemed ineligible. The bill now moves to the Senate; and it comes at a time when small businesses are finding it harder to fill their vacancies. Leah Long is the state director of the National Federation of Independent Business.