Abbott must weigh needs of businesses, unemployed

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott’s decision to opt out of expanded unemployment benefits may support businesses looking for workers, but it also invites more suffering for the jobless and their families. Opting out of the additional $300-per-week federal unemployment benefits lacks balance.

As we are all experiencing, recovering from the COVID-19 pandemic is complex, but Abbott serves all Texans, not just businesses, and he should strike a more compassionate balance. Opting out of expanded unemployment places front-line workers, who may not feel safe to go back to work, in an uncomfortable position. There is no guarantee people will return to jobs, regardless of the level of benefits, unless they feel safe.

The benefits would have given Texans without jobs the summer to find employment that met their needs. Now, those enhanced benefits will end June 26.

Abbott’s decision came days after a May 13 letter from the Texas Association of Business and 37 other organizations cited a worker shortage and requested the changes. But other Republican governors are making similar decisions.

For the jobless, the extra $300 a week in unemployment benefits has provided a safety net — and for many, it has likely made the difference in paying rent, keeping the lights on and putting food on the table.

The benefits have to end, particularly as the economy revs up. But what’s the difference between June and September? It only provides more time for people to be vaccinated. Besides, these are federal dollars. Texas is leaving money on the table.

One of many who criticized Abbott’s decision, U.S. Rep. Lloyd Doggett, D-San Antonio, said Abbott was “intruding” on the American Rescue Plan’s relief and denying more than two months of support for 1.3 million Texans.

In his news release, Abbott said the Texas economy is “booming and employers are hiring.”

Although unemployment is still nearly double its record low of 3.4 percent in May and June

2019, there is progress. The jobless rate in April was 6.7 percent — down from 6.9 percent in

March and 12.9 percent in April 2020, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. This would suggest people are returning to work, right? So, what’s the emergency, governor? Why cut off benefits from people who need them when the economy is showing signs of progress?

One GOP belief is that the unemployment benefit is keeping workers from applying for jobs, but the improving unemployment numbers belie this argument. Texans aren’t lazy. There are deeper issues of low wages and benefits and lack of child care that the jobless are also dealing with as they try to get back to work.

The most important concern — one that Abbott and the GOP dismiss — is employees are still hesitant to return to work because they are afraid of getting COVID-19.

Vaccines are up and COVID hospitalizations are the lowest in a year, but front-line workers know herd immunity hasn’t been reached for a virus that so far has killed more than 50,000 Texans. Perhaps if Abbott maintained mask mandates just a bit longer, front-line workers would be less worried about their health.

While we empathize with business owners, we also understand that businesses have been getting help. They have been applying for millions in federal and local aid. No one cut them off early, and the help for businesses keeps coming.

The University of Texas at San Antonio Small Business Development Center, which provides advising and business education services to 11 counties, has seen a 600 percent increase in services, director Richard Sifuentes said. He and other experts say COVID-19 is fueling challenges for small businesses that have always existed: retaining quality staff and making a profit.

To continue helping businesses, President Joe Biden recently announced a new relief program and extended and expanded the Restaurant Revitalization Fund and Employee Retention Credit, or ERC, in the American Rescue Plan.

Businesses need employees, and employees need work, so the jobs will get filled. Businesses and the economy will recover in time, but families can’t simply opt out of unemployment. It takes time to find jobs that pay enough to sustain families, especially those whose families have expensive child care and medical needs.

There are other, better ways to compel people to return to work.