Lawmakers want proof jobless are looking for work

Employers blame labor shortage on additional benefits

Restaurateur Rachel Griffith says she is one of the lucky ones as her industry emerges from the horrible pummeling it took in the COVID-19 pandemic.

Nearly all of the 40 employee slots at her Bethlehem eatery, the Apollo Grill, are filled.

But many other restaurants and small businesses in Pennsylvania and across the nation cannot find people to fill jobs. Griffith agrees with Pennsylvania lawmakers who want to quickly terminate the state’s moratorium on requiring unemployment compensation recipients to prove they are looking for a job.

“It has to end. People have to

get back to work,” she said. “This is catastrophic. And not just for the restaurant industry.”

As the state’s economy revs up after the lifting of COVID-19 restrictions, at least three bills in Harrisburg would quickly end the moratorium on work-search requirements, probably well before the July 18 date set by Gov. Tom Wolf ’s administration.

Employers have blamed the labor shortage on jobless benefits that are padded with a $300a-week federal pandemic benefit, though the Wolf administration says there’s more to it than that.

In a letter signed by dozens of local chambers, the Pennsylvania Chamber of Business and Industry recently urged lawmakers to swiftly approve legislation that would make the requirement take effect as early as Tuesday.

“I have never seen it this bad in 26 years,” said Bob Franklin, owner of The Westy Bar & Grill in Berks County. “It is like pulling teeth to get people to work.”

Debate over timing

A spokesperson for Wolf, Kevin Hensil, said research shows increased unemployment benefits have not caused Americans to turn down job offers. Some, he said, decided to change jobs during the pandemic.

Pennsylvanians are still seeking COVID-19 vaccinations or face other challenges, like having children doing remote learning at home, Hensil said. He added that some are reconsidering careers and prioritize higher wages and education.

Wolf has said his proposal to push the minimum wage from $7.25 an hour to $12 would help employers attract more staff.

“If you are paying minimum wage and you don’t give any benefits, it is always going to be hard,” Wolf told reporters last week. “We need to pay people fairly and treat them fairly, and if you do that, you are not going to have problems getting people.”

The work-search requirement bills are largely Republican-driven, although one that passed the House last week had the support of 19 Democrats.

That bill, sponsored by Republican Rep. Jim Cox of Berks County, is now in the Senate Labor and Industry Committee. The Republican-led committee last week approved — on a party-line vote — a bill sponsored by Republican

Sen. Lisa Baker of Luzerne County that also would end the worksearch moratorium no later than June 30.

A spokesperson for House Republicans, Jason Gottesman, said the labor shortage was among the unintended consequences of unilateral moves made by the Democratic Wolf administration during the pandemic.

Jason Thompson, spokesperson for Senate President Pro Tempore Jake Corman of Centre County, cited a Forbes report that showed many states are reimposing work-search requirements.

“That is one area where we shouldn’t be behind the curve,” Thompson said.

Lehigh County Democratic Rep. Mike Schlossberg said Republicans are oversimplifying the situation.

For one thing, Schlossberg said, real wages for hourly workers at small businesses like restaurants have barely budged in decades. Echoing Hensil’s point, Schlossberg said some parents have been unable to work because their children are still receiving remote education at home.

Disaster-ending proposal

A third Republican-led measure that would expedite lifting the moratorium is in a broader resolution from Republican House Majority Leader Kerry Benninghoff of Centre County.

It proposes ending portions of Wolf ’s COVID-19 disaster declaration, including one that allowed for the work-search moratorium. Last week, it was approved by a

House committee in a 15-10 partyline vote.

Voters in the May 18 primary election approved two constitutional amendments to restrict the governor’s emergency powers, including one that allows the Legislature to end a disaster declaration by approving a resolution.

Bartolotta said lawmakers must be careful in seeking to end the 14-month disaster declaration. Some mechanisms it enables, like one allowing expanded telemedicine, have been helpful and should not be disrupted, she said.