(C) Iowa Capital Dispatch
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House panel backs work-search requirements for jobless Iowans [1]
['Clark Kauffman', 'More From Author', '- February']
Date: 2024-02-12
A House panel gave its approval Monday to a bill that would codify rules that require jobless Iowans to complete at least four work searches per week while collecting unemployment benefits.
The House Subcommittee on Labor and Workforce bill sent House Study Bill 655 to the full committee where it’s expected to be discussed as soon as Tuesday.
In addition to setting the statutorily required number of work searches for the unemployed at four per week, the bill would require Iowa Workforce Development to verify the identity of each claimant before any benefits are paid out. IWD would also be required to use “multi-factor authentication” to verify the identity of claimants submitting applications for benefits through the state’s internet site or online portal.
The bill would essentially bring Iowa’s state law into alignment with existing administrative rules that already require claimant identification and four job searches per week.
But representatives of labor organizations that oppose the bill told the subcommittee Monday they’re concerned that writing these existing requirements into the Code of Iowa will make any future revisions more difficult should the Iowa economy be hit with a sudden downturn that leads to a greater volume of urgent unemployment claims.
“Putting these work search requirements in the Code is our concern,” said Nick Laning of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers State Conference. “We know this system may be working now but if we hit a recession and unemployment spikes, how do we turn around something that’s in the Code and change our processes to make sure people get through the system and get the that they’ve paid for? If it was just in a rule, we could file an emergency notice and respond quickly to an economic downturn – but in Code, not so much.”
Peter Hird, a lobbyist for the Iowa Federation of Labor, AFL/CIO, said his organization is also opposed to the bill.
“We did have some concerns because we have been hearing there have been some delays in people receiving their benefits, but (IWD) says, I think, that the turnaround time is 24 hours,” Hird said. “But we do still worry about putting this in the Code of Iowa, as the department might want to change this in the future.”
The bill is supported by the Florida-based conservative group, the Foundation for Government Accountability, and its lobbying affiliate, the Opportunity Solutions Project, which backed GOP efforts last year to ease restrictions on child labor in Iowa.
At Monday’s subcommittee meeting, Dennis Tibben, lobbyist for the Opportunity Solutions Project, voiced support for the bill. “We appreciate that this bill is intended to align with current practice, and we think those current practices are being reflected in Iowa’s low unemployment rate,” he said.
Brad Hartkopf, representing the Iowa Association of Business and Industry, also spoke in favor of the measure, likening it to legislative changes in 2022 when lawmakers shortened the maximum amount of unemployment benefits from 26 weeks to 16 weeks and began requiring jobless Iowans to accept any offers for lower-paying jobs that stemmed from their work searches.
“During the 2022 legislative session, ABI was very supportive of significant changes that reformed our unemployment insurance system and made our focus on reemployment, which we are supportive of, and we were glad to see that become law,” Hartkopf said. “One of the things Iowa Workforce Development did at that time was make an administrative change, doubling the number of (weekly) work-search requirements that claimants had to go through, going from two to four. We believe it makes sense to codify that into law as you have Section 1 of this bill. This ensures that a future administration can’t make a quick change here. We think they’d have to come back to the Legislature and say, ‘OK, we think this should be changed’ by going back down to three, or to two, or whatever number that might be.”
Subcommittee member Jeff Cooling, a Democrat from Cedar Rapids, said he’d like to see Iowa follow the practice of other states that count part-time employment or self-employment toward any work-search requirements.
“It seems like that would be a good thing as people find part-time work as they work toward full-time employment, because depending on the time of year and the jobs that are out there, that’s what they have to do to get by,” he said. “I think any work that they are doing should probably count towards one of those (work-search) credits.”
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