COLUMBUS, Ohio – Ohio’s Rob Portman has joined a group of 11 Republican senators who have floated a plan to extend long-term unemployment benefits, an apparent counter-proposal to a Democratic measure.
The Republicans’ bill, introduced Thursday, extends unemployment benefits for five months, enacts reforms and is paid for so it will not add to the national debt.
“Since the beginning of the debate, I’ve stood ready to work in a bipartisan manner for a solution for the long-term unemployed. I’m hopeful my colleagues on both sides will get behind this proposal so we can start working on real, permanent solutions for the American people,” Portman said in a joint statement by the group of GOP lawmakers.
Also signing on to the legislation were Senators Dean Heller (R-NV), Susan Collins (R-ME), Dan Coats (R-IN), Lisa Murkowski (R-AK), Kelly Ayotte (R-NH) and Mark Kirk (R-IL).
The bill, like the Democratic proposal, allows for benefits to be granted retroactively to Dec. 28.
Debate on extending long-term unemployment benefits is expected to be revived in the Senate next week, though it is not clear when.
The backers of the proposal it can be paid for by extending “pension smoothing” provisions from the 2012 highway bill.
It also lays out reforms to the system, requiring agencies to determine why an unemployed worker remains out of work “and to identify steps the individual should take to improve employment prospects, such as enrollment in a job training program.”
It denies benefits to anyone who turns down offers of suitable work or refuses to apply for jobs referred to them by state agency.