Johnson, Senators Introduce the Get Americans Back to Work Act

Washington, D.C. – Today, U.S. Representative Dusty Johnson (R-SD) and U.S. Senator Roger Marshall (R-KS), introduced the bicameral Get Americans Back to Work Act, a bill to remove the federal supplemental unemployment benefit by June 30^th. Job openings reached a record high of 8.1 million and more than 35% of Americans are fully vaccinated, but according to the recent jobs report, employment rose by only 266,000 jobs in April. This is 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," said Johnson. "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."

"Throughout my travels across Kansas I hear constantly how employers are struggling to find people for open jobs because folks are staying at home due to the rich unemployment benefits and the stimulus checks that Democrats continue to enhance. While there are certainly people that needed access to increased unemployment benefits during the heart of this pandemic, we should not be in the business of creating lucrative government dependency that makes it more beneficial to stay unemployed rather than return to work," said Senator Marshall. "At a time when our nation is on its way to reaching herd immunity and businesses are emerging from government imposed lockdowns, President Biden has delivered them a government imposed labor shortage."

"Finding workers is a tremendous challenge for Mom & Pop businesses across South Dakota," said Nathan Sanderson, Executive Director of the South Dakota Retailers Association. "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."

The Get Americans Back to Work Act was also supported by Reps. Kelly Armstrong (R-ND), Ashley Hinson (R-IA), Randy Feenstra (R-IA), Randy Weber (R-TX), Diana Harshbarger (R-TN), Jody Hice (R-GA), Tim Burchett (R-TN), Roger Williams (R-TX), Greg Steube (R-FL), Bob Gibbs (R-OH), and Sens. Tim Scott (R-SC), Marsha Blackburn (R-TN), Kevin Cramer (R-ND), Steve Daines (R-MT), Marco Rubio (R-FL), Rick Scott (R-FL), Mike Braun (R-IN), Lindsey Graham (R-SC), and Tommy Tuberville (R-AL). Additionally, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce has called for the additional $300-a-week supplemental unemployment benefit to end.