Attachment - Long-Term Unemployment Insurance

Social services, especially Unemployment Insurance, need a major overhaul.  The categorical grant approach reinforced a provincial view of federalism; one which created regional economies, especially in the South, with a barely hidden racist intent. The result of these policies has been to keep the region in a state of sustained poverty. Alabama Wealthy is not wealthy in the larger economy. This wound was self-inflicted.

Family incomes must be guaranteed, although not with a one size fits all subsidy. Our proposal has three components; two of which should be familiar to the Committee: 

1. An increase in the minimum wage to at least $11 per hour (if not more to account for pandemic inflation), with a $12 wage for a shorter work week.  This distributes the burden of higher wages for less work with employees and employers.
2. Increase the Child Tax Credit to levels passed by the House, with increases to at least twice that in fairly short order.
3. Replace the current menu of social programs with long term unemployment insurance at below minimum wage levels, which would be supplemented with additional funding for participation in basic education (especially for ex-offenders), employment training, psychiatric or addiction rehabilitation programs. Old Age, Survivors and Disability Insurance would start with this amount as a minimum, with higher benefit levels based on employment history. Dependent payments would be made through the child tax credit once it has been increased to current survivor benefit levels. 
4. Long term unemployment insurance would be awarded on a no fault basis, ending the need for eligibility investigations beyond verification of identity and for punitive disciplinary systems by employers designed to avoid paying benefits. This payment, which would be indexed for inflation, would be $10 per hour for a 28 hour week, would be tax free and funded by a national goods and services tax. States could enact higher benefit levels funded by a local GST.

Most, if not all, anti-poverty programs would be discontinued, although programs to increase rental housing supplies would be expanded.