An Alternative to Extending Unemployment Benefits?

While About Guide to Conservative Politics Justin Quinn cheered Senate Republicans’ success in killing a bill that would have again extended unemployment benefits for some 1.3 million Americans, he cuts through the political rhetoric and suggests an alternative to long-term unemployment compensation.

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In his article, Understanding the Decision to (Finally) Kill Super-Extra-Long-Term Unemployment Benefits, Quinn suggests welfare as an alternative to extended unemployment benefits.

“Rather than add money to the deficit,” he writes, “lawmakers would do well to consider easing restrictions on federal and state welfare assistance programs to allow those suffering long-term unemployment the opportunity to apply for welfare assistance, rather than remain on unemployment assistance in perpetuity.”

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Under the Welfare Reform Act of 1996, most adult welfare recipients are required to find jobs within two years of first receiving benefits, thus providing the long-term unemployed what Quinn calls “a tangible deadline to find a way out of their dilemma.”

Thanks to multiple extensions of the unemployment insurance program by Congress, Americans living in states with particularly high unemployment rates are now eligible to receive unemployment benefits for up to 99 weeks – almost 2 years – the longest period in the history of the program.

According to a recent Washington Post article, some 11.4 million Americans are now collecting unemployment compensation – more than half of them for over six months — at a cost to taxpayers, of $10 billion a month.

Apparently, a growing number of lawmakers are beginning to realize that infinite extension of unemployment benefits is doing little good in reducing long-term unemployment.

As Sen. Jon Kyl (R-Arizona) told the Washington Post, “If anything, continuing to pay people unemployment compensation is a disincentive for them to seek new work. I am sure most of them would like work and probably have tried to seek it, but you can’t argue it is a job enhancer.”

Hopefully, Sen. Kyl and his fellow lawmakers realize that being America’s “job enhancer” is mainly their job.

Hopefully, Sen. Kyl and his fellow lawmakers realize that the vast majority of the 14.9 million unemployed Americans did not choose to become jobless or to remain on unemployment compensation any longer than necessary.

Hopefully, Sen. Kyl and his fellow lawmakers will soon create and pass legislation to assist new businesses in starting up and encourage existing employers to increase hiring. Hint: tax incentives and relaxation of regulations.

Throughout our history, Americans have embraced the concept that whenever a member of the community suffers through no fault of their own, the community tries help them get back on their feet.

While unemployment compensation, like any public assistance program, is vulnerable to abuse, it is surely right and necessary, especially in these desperate economic times. But it cannot continue indefinitely. That, as Sen. Kyl notes does not solve the problem – not enough jobs. What is needed instead is innovative solutions from Congress, perhaps even like the one suggested by Justin Quinn.