Troy Nehls: “I stand here today after speaking with business owners across my district and the country. I have heard story after…”

“I stand here today after speaking with business owners across my district and the country. I have heard story after story of businesses struggling to get entry-level, minimum-wage workers back to work. Why is that? Because they are actually having to compete, not against COVID or lockdowns, but against the Federal Government to get employees back to work. In my home State of Texas, you can make up to $535 in unemployment insurance, but add in the additional $300 per week payments that came from Federal COVID relief, and that is $835 per week not to work. That equates to nearly $21 an hour. That is exactly why Texas and 20 other States have opted out of Federal COVID unemployment insurance benefits. But there are still States where business owners are being forced to compete against the Federal Government for employees. My own brother, Tyler, who owns a construction company in Wisconsin, told me business has picked up for him. What a blessing. Now, he is trying to hire additional employees to grow his business. He has just got one problem: Folks are telling him they are making more sitting at home at $17.50 an hour. They tell him if he wants them to work, he is going to have to pay them $25 an hour. Situations like my brother Tyler's were hardly an unexpected consequence of paying workers more not to work.…”