LaHood: $600 federal unemployment benefits should be lowered

Posted on July 28, 2020
Darin LaHood
Central Illinois Congressman Darin LaHood (R-Dunlap). (WJBC file photo)

 

By Neil Doyle

BLOOMINGTON – Senate Republicans on Monday released their $1 trillion coronavirus relief package.

The proposal would cut enhanced federal unemployment benefits — set to expire at the end of this week — to $200, from the current level of $600, which generated swift backlash from Democrats.

“We can’t incentivize people to stay home and not try to get a job and that is what is happening at $600 a week,” U.S. Rep. Darin LaHood (R-Dunlap) told WJBC’s Scott Miller. “So we’ve come up with a proposal that says you should get 70% of what you were making before on unemployment insurance.”

LaHood said the plan includes another round of $1,200 checks for most adults, liability protections against COVID-19, and money for businesses disproportionately affected by the pandemic.

Neil Doyle can be reached at [email protected]

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