(AP) – Missouri lawmakers again are mulling a plan to cut
the number of weeks the state’s unemployed can claim jobless benefits.
The St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports that a House panel on Tuesday heard
testimony about the push to limit the benefits maximum to 13 weeks – seven weeks
fewer than what’s now allowed – if the state’s jobless rate is below 6 percent.
That rate is currently 4.7 percent.
The maximum number of weeks will rise under the proposal if the unemployment
rate begins creeping above 6 percent, topping out at 20 weeks if the jobless
rate eclipses 9 percent.
The Missouri Supreme Court last July struck down a 2015 version of the change,
ruling that the Senate’s vote in ultimately overriding then-Gov. Jay Nixon’s
veto came too late.
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