America’s Jobless

Defeating COVID-19 includes reconnecting unemployed Americans. Before the pandemic, America's economy was thriving. Workers at the bottom of the income ladder were seeing the largest wage gains in recent history. Two principle achievements from the last 25 years - the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act and the 1996 Welfare Reform Act - ensured Americans benefitted from hard work.

At the start of 2021 the unemployment rate nationally was 6.3%, with 10.1 million Americans unemployed. Nebraska is one of only 18 states with an unemployment rate of less than 5%. These are disturbing numbers, especially when I hear from employers across the Third District who have jobs to fill. It is equally disturbing that large portions of the spending in the Biden Administration's proposed "relief" package conflict with our efforts to get the unemployed back to work. Increasing the existing weekly unemployment insurance add-on from $300 to $400 and extending it through the summer creates incentives not to work.

Last year, Congress enacted numerous bipartisan relief packages to support Americans enduring the unforeseen circumstances brought on by COVID. The legislation provided incentives like the Payroll Protection Program and Employee Retention Tax Credit which were specifically designed to keep Americans on payrolls. Likewise, I supported a strong expansion of the Child Tax Credit and doubled the standard exemption as part of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act to ensure workers in our state could keep more of every dollar they earned, enhancing the benefit of work.

Democrats' proposal to disconnect the Child Tax Credit from work by distributing it in the form of monthly benefit checks would undermine these bipartisan efforts. Under their proposed plan, those without jobs would still receive their monthly Child Tax Credit payment on top of benefits like UI and TANF, furthering the incentive not to work. At a time when employers in Nebraska are looking for workers, this "tax credit" would become the first completely unconnected welfare benefit in two generations.

I encourage President Biden and Congressional Democrats to hit the brakes on the current proposal and have a serious discussion about how we can best help struggling Americans and bring our nation together. I remain committed to ensuring a brighter future for Nebraskans and their families.