Compromise is the name of the game.
For the second day in a row, the Senate decided against taking up S.10 Thursday, after leaders from business organizations cried foul over benefit increases it would provide for laid-off workers.
That pushback has prompted senators to look for a compromise. The bill, which proposes a permanent, $50-a-week payment for people with dependents and a one-year, 20% increase in overall maximum benefits, has generated conflict between business and labor groups.
On Wednesday, five state business associations sent letters to Senate leaders, expressing concern over the benefit proposals’ potential impact on their enterprises and asking them to reconsider.
An amendment drafted by Sen. Randy Brock, R-Franklin, would strike the permanency of the dependent benefit, instead making it available for just a single year. It would further limit the payment of dependent benefits and across-the-board benefit increases to periods during which the federal government is not also making Covid-19 benefit payments.
“I hope that as we move forward we can arrive at a compromise that protects employers from crippling cost increases … and treats equitably all parties to the unemployment compensation system,” Brock said in an email to VTDigger.
Brock approached the committee chair, Sen. Michael Sirotkin, D-Chittenden, about working on a compromise following the flurry of letters from business leaders, according to Senate President Pro Tempore Becca Balint, D-Windham.
“As the pro tem, I very much appreciate the willingness of both these senators to continue to try to hammer it out,” Balint, a member of the economic development committee, said in an email to VTDigger.
The panel is “committed to finding a compromise position,” which led Sirotkin to ask the Senate to pass over the vote, Balint said.
That marks a shift for Sirotkin, who had previously been reluctant to walk back any benefits increases in the bill. He could not immediately be reached for comment Thursday afternoon.
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