Congress and the White House are debating a “return-to-work bonus” this summer, aimed at the more than 40 million workers who have lost jobs and filed for unemployment during the deadly pandemic, as a new incentive for those who go back to work.
Talks are still fluid about how big the bonus should be and how long it should last, The Washington Post reports. Directly giving workers a government bonus for several weeks would be largely unprecedented in the U.S., although it has been done in other countries.
Sen. Rob Portman, R-Ohio, has proposed that the federal government give people who stop collecting unemployment and go back to work $450 a week for several weeks. Others, like Rep. Kevin Brady, R-Texas, have discussed allowing workers to get up to $1,200 if they find a job, according to three people familiar with White House discussions and who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss internal deliberations.
Republican lawmakers have repeatedly expressed concern that the increase in unemployment benefits approved by Congress in March rewards workers for staying home and could lead to increased unemployment.
Lawmakers are now considering the bonus to make returning to work more attractive than remaining on unemployment. The idea is to offer an off-ramp from public assistance, without abruptly eliminating federal financial support for millions of people. Read the full story.
