Rick Scott proposes cuts to unemployment benefits

Gov. Rick Scott's plan for growing private sector jobs is focused on making life easier for business.

One piece of that puzzle, Scott said during the campaign, was to lower employer costs for providing unemployment benefits. It's businesses, after all, that pay the taxes that help cover out-of-work employees.

Scott pledged to "make unemployment benefits more affordable (for employers)," as part of his seven-step plan to create 700,000 private sector jobs. His promise was not initially included on the Scott-O-Meter, but we added it on Feb. 10, 2011, after Scott released proposed budget plans for 2011-12 and 2012-13.

Scott's budget proposals include projected unemployment tax reductions of $630.8 million by shortening the length of time out-of-work Floridians could claim benefits. Scott's plan calls for reducing the maximum time a jobless person can get state benefits to 20 weeks from 26 weeks.

That limit would fall even more if Florida's unemployment rate declined, down to 12 weeks if the rate is at or below 5 percent. (The unemployment rate as of December 2010 was around 12 percent.)

The governor also wants to "make it more difficult to qualify" for benefits, Scott budget chief Jerry McDaniel said in comments to the House Appropriations Committee on Feb. 10, 2011.

Meanwhile, the Legislature is considering its own ways to cut unemployment benefits. One proposal would make it easier for employers to challenge whether workers are eligible for unemployment and require the unemployed to do community service.

On Feb. 10, the House Economic Development & Tourism Subcommittee voted 7-4 to support a proposal that would make it easier for employers to fire workers and deny unemployment payments, and would reduce from 26 to 20 the number of weeks a fired worker could receive benefits from the state.

Between Scott's budget proposals and the early actions of the Legislature, that's more than enough for us to move this promise to In the Works.