Lawmakers want to slash Kentucky's unemployment checks ... to motivate the jobless

FRANKFORT, Ky. – One premise behind a bill pending in the Kentucky House that would roll back long-established unemployment benefits is that limiting benefits will motivate laid-off workers to try harder to find a job.

Instead of getting unemployment checks for the current maximum of 26 weeks, they would only be able to get them for a number of weeks tied to the state unemployment rate. Right now, that means they'd get 14 weeks.

“We’ve got a segment of folks that use their unemployment instead of getting out there and looking for employment," said Rep. Jim DeCesare, a Rockfield Republican and sponsor of the bill. He said Kentucky ranks second among states in the length of time its people remain on unemployment benefits.

But opponents say the bill’s benefit cuts would be a cruel and misguided blow to people who lose their jobs through no fault of their own — particularly in regions of the state with chronic high unemployment rates.

Read more: https://www.courier-journal.com/story/news/politics/2018/02/16/kentucky-unemployment-benefits-cut/333838002/