Legislation to boost Arizona jobless benefits for the first time in 17 years cleared a crucial hurdle on Tuesday. A House committee approved the bill that would boost the maximum payments to $320 a week.
But the measure, SB 1411, ties the statewide unemployment rate to how long a person may receive the benefits. The lower the unemployment rate, the fewer the number of weeks of coverage.
Currently, the maximum is 26 weeks, though there have been extensions financed with federal dollars. Under the proposal from Sen. Karen Fann (R-Prescott), that would drop to 22 weeks any time the statewide unemployment rate for the prior quarter drops below 6%. And it would go to 20 weeks if the unemployment rate dipped below 4.25%.
“We also know that when unemployment is below 6% there literally is almost no reason why anybody can't get a job. And I can tell you as an employer, I can't find enough people. Nor can many of my other business associates," Fann said.
The connection to the state unemployment rate could affect counties differently as some rural areas may face higher jobless rates than the rest of the state. Some lawmakers are hoping to tweak the bill to consider it on a county-by-county basis.
The bill now heads to the full House.
