COLUMBUS – Democratic members of a House panel want to put the brakes on proposed changes to Ohio’s unemployment compensation system they say would remove important safety nets for the state’s unemployed.
The lawmakers delivered a letter to Insurance Committee chair Bob Hackett (R-London) Wednesday calling for the legislation, House Bill 394 (HB 394), to be put on hold so a more balanced proposal can be crafted.
In their letter, the minority members asked for the pause “until all interested parties – workers, businesses and legislators from both parties – are brought together with an equal voice at one table.”
Supporters say the bill helps address solvency issues with the system so Ohio is better prepared in case of a recession. But social services advocates say it would “dismantle” an effective poverty prevention program. Among other changes, it would cut the number of weeks that a person could get jobless benefits.
“The legislature cannot afford to put forward a partisan, one-sided proposal that devalues working people in our state by cutting holes in the primary safety net for Ohioans that are looking for work,” the legislators wrote in the letter to Hackett and the bill’s chief sponsor, Barbara Sears (R-Monclova Twp.).
While the committee heard a dozen amendments to the bill during a hearing this week, the Democrats claim proposed changes fail to address what they say is a “disproportionate burden being placed onto unemployed Ohioans.”
The bill proposes to reduce the period of time when unemployed workers can get benefits from 26 weeks to as few as 12, abolishes supplemental benefits for those with dependents, restores a reduction eliminated in 2007 of benefits for Social Security recipients and imposes an additional waiting week, during which someone who is laid off would not receive benefits, which the Democratic lawmakers say imposes a burden on seasonal and intermittent workers.
The letter was signed by ranking committee member Rep. Heather Bishoff of Blacklick, Rep. Jack Cera (D-Bellaire), Rep. Mike Ashford (D-Toledo) and Rep. Christie Kuhns (D-Cincinnati).