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Johnson introduces Get Americans Back to Work Act

May 11, 2021

Rep. Dusty Johnson, R-S.D., and Sen. Roger Marshall R-Kansas, introduced Tuesday the bicameral Get Americans Back to Work Act, a bill to remove the federal supplemental unemployment benefit by June 30.

Job openings have reached a record high of 8.1 million and more than 35% of Americans are fully vaccinated. According to the recent jobs report, employment rose by only 266,000 jobs in April — far below the estimated 1 million new jobs projected by economists for April.

"There are a record eight million American jobs waiting to be filled and those who want the COVID-19 vaccine have access to it," Johnson said in a press release. "We need to stop paying people more to sit at home than to work. It's past time to get America back to work, and our bill does that."

"Finding workers is a tremendous challenge for mom and pop businesses across South Dakota," Nathan Sanderson, executive director of the South Dakota Retailers Association, said in the release. "When a small fraction of our citizens are unemployed, and there are tens of thousands of job openings available, any disincentive to work is an issue."

South Dakotans can benefit from three federal unemployment assistance programs that are set to expire Sept. 4 — the Federal Pandemic Unemployment Compensation, Pandemic Unemployment Assistance, and Pandemic Emergency Unemployment Compensation. Additionally, state programs offer unemployment assistance.

Issues:Economy