A Senate committee Tuesday advanced a bill that would require unemployed individuals to apply to five employers per week to remain eligible for unemployment.
Under current law, individuals receiving unemployment must make three attempts per week to find work.
HB29 by Rep. Ed Oliver, R-Dadeville, already passed the House of Representatives, with one change to the bill allowing individuals living in counties with a population under 20,000 to continue seeking only three jobs per week. Out of 67 counties in Alabama, 21 have a population under 20,000.
Sen. Arthur Orr, R-Decatur, is carrying the bill in the Senate and told the Senate County and Municipal Government Committee Tuesday that the increase makes it more likely for an individual to get off unemployment.
“We have 127,000 open jobs across the state; this presumably would require people to look for more jobs and available employment rather than just take three a week,” Orr said. “What are you doing … for 40 hours a week?”
The maximum benefit is $275 a week for unemployed individuals, and the state has continued to see record low unemployment rates hovering around 2.5 to 3 percent. These numbers were once touted as major accomplishments by political leaders, but as the rates plateaued, focus has shifted to the state’s low labor force participation rate.
David Stout, Legislative Director for Alabama Arise, spoke against the bill during a public hearing held by the committee.
“Let me say that this is a poorly conceived bill, it doesn’t need to be any more stringent,” Stout said. “The people who are drawing unemployment are already complying to the tightest guidelines in the country … If you’re drawing unemployment, you’re looking for a job under already stringent legislation.”
