(Des Moines, IA) -- During Iowa Governor Kim Reynolds' Condition of the State Address in January, shortening unemployment benefits from 6 months to 16 weeks was named a priority for the 2022 Iowa Legislative Session.
The bill now sits on Governor Reynolds' desk.
HF 2355 passes through the Iowa Legislature after a standoff between the House and the Senate. A one week waiting period for Iowans applying for unemployment benefits stood as the key difference between the chambers.
After the House voted against an amendment to include the waiting period, the Senate votes to match HF 2355, sending it to Governor Reynolds. The proposal also includes a measure, requiring Iowans to accept a lower salary for their next job.
If a person on unemployment benefits is offered a job during their first week on unemployment, the individual is entitled to 100% of the offered pay. If the work is offered during the second or third week, the individual must accept 90% of the offered pay. The amount of pay an unemployed person must accept continues to dwindle by 10% for every following two weeks until after the eighth week, where 60% of offered pay must be accepted.
Iowa Democrats are opposed to cutting unemployment benefits.
"It's another slap in the face to Iowa workers, and from our perspective, we believe it will continue to exacerbate the Reynolds workforce crisis that's gripping literally every industry here in our state," says State Senator Zach Wahls.
House Republican Mike Bousselot says the bill encourages Iowans to get back to work sooner.
"When unemployment was originally created, unemployment was the sole safety net for Iowa workers. That is no longer the case," says Representative Bousselot. "What we are proposing to do is to refocus unemployment, on re-employment."
With the unemployment benefits bill passing through both chambers, the Iowa Legislature now pivots to the remaining priorities, such as budget bills, the School Vouchers bill, the Transparency in Schools bill, and more.