Austin (1080 KRLD) - Thirty-seven business groups and chambers have signed a letter to Governor Greg Abbott and Texas Workforce Commission Chairman Bryan Daniel asking the state to end participation in supplemental unemployment payments.
Right now, people can receive $300 in addition to standard unemployment benefits.
"We have a federal policy that's serving as a big disincentive," says Glenn Hamer, chief executive officer of the Texas Association of Business. "That is serving as a big disincentive for people to get back to work."
Hamer says businesses across the state are having trouble hiring workers. He says leadership came together during the worst of the pandemic. Hamer says Abbott worked with the business community to reopen the economy quickly.
"They've done a great job of keeping the Texas economy going at a place where it is the best economy in the United States," he says. "We need a couple policy tweaks, and we'll get to an even better level."
The tweaks mentioned in the letter include:
•Consider ending Texas's participation in the supplemental federal UI payment which stacks on top of standard unemployment insurance. Employers are citing the $300additional weekly federal stimulus payment as a major barrier to fill their job openings. Some states have already announced they are ending participation in this program.
•Promote through social media, traditional news and online platforms that Texas companies are hiring, jobs are available and that UI beneficiaries are required to search for work.
•Explore additional steps Texas can take—potentially with funding the state will receive from the American Rescue Plan Act—to support workers reentering the job market and their families.
Hamer says additional steps could include skills training and childcare for people reentering the workforce.
According to the National Bureau of Economic Research, 42% of people receiving enhanced unemployment make more than their pre-unemployment wage.
In Texas, Hamer says businesses were paying more even before the pandemic because workers in the food and hospitality industries are in high demand as the state grows.
"Take a look at the entry-level positions in Dallas and other cities. They're well above the minimum wage," he says. "They're usually twice as much, if not more than that, above the minimum wage."
Hamer says more than half a million jobs are available in Texas right now, including 200,000 in the restaurant industry.
The entire letter to Governor Greg Abbott and Texas Workforce Commission Chairman Bryan Daniel can be seen here.
