The House Labor Committee has rejected legislation that would have increased the state unemployment benefit from $247 to $347 a week.
The panel heard testimony from struggling unemployed workers. Montrell McGraw is a furloughed hotel worker and says at $247 a week he has to make tough choices.
“Either have food in my mouth or have a roof over my head, either pay a light bill or don’t have water, that’s what this 247 unemployment has dropped me down to,” said McGraw.
McGraw said under the $600 federally boosted benefits he was able to make ends meet while waiting for his employer to call him back in.
Latoya Howard is a furloughed New Orleans Convention Center worker who says she’s played by the rules and worked her whole life but now can’t pay her bills.
“I am just asking that you would step up and do the right thing by employees like myself who have worked their whole life and paid into the system,” said a teary Howard.
The legislation came as the state is having to borrow money from the feds to keep the unemployment trust fund afloat. Jim Patterson, vice president of governmental relations at Louisiana Association of Business and Industry, says we can’t afford this right now.
“This is just not the time,” said Patterson. “We are asking businesses to essentially rebuild the fund, whether we like it or not, that is going to have to happen, a fund of over a billion dollars that we have to get back up there.”
Without federal intervention, it is likely that payroll taxes will be hiked on businesses starting next year to replenish the fund.
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