Rob Portman: “let me say that I agree with my colleague from Oklahoma who just talked about the impact of the Federal supplement on…”

“let me say that I agree with my colleague from Oklahoma who just talked about the impact of the Federal supplement on unemployment that was passed here in this Chamber and signed into law by the President. It is time to end it because the situation has changed dramatically, hasn't it? Back when the unemployment additional benefit from the Federal Government was put in place, we had people who couldn't go to work. Thanks to COVID, businesses actually were shut down, many by government edict. There were people who lost their jobs through no fault of their own. Therefore, this Chamber stood up and said: OK, for those people, we ought to provide a Federal supplement on top of the State unemployment insurance in order to make them whole, essentially. Initially it was $600. Now it is $300. That is on top of the State unemployment. Now you have an exact opposite situation. You have all these jobs that are open. I just learned that in Oklahoma, it is a record number. Guess what. It is a record number nationally as well: 8.1 million jobs are being offered right now. That is more jobs than we have ever had open in the United States of America, and it is happening right now. At the same time, you have people on unemployment insurance who are getting the additional $300 on top of the State benefit. In Ohio, the average is $360 plus $300, so 660 bucks a week. Plus, the first $10,000 is not taxed.…”