WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Kevin Cramer (R-ND), a Senate Budget Committee member, joined Senator Roger Marshall (R-KS) in introducing the Get Americans Back to Work Act, bicameral legislation to repeal the increase in unemployment benefits from President Biden’s $1.9 trillion spending package Democrats passed on a party-line vote.
“President Biden and Democrats in Congress rammed through a program which incentivizes workers to stay at home unemployed instead of finding a job, and the American economy is starting to suffer because of it,” said Senator Cramer. “Our bill follows North Dakota’s lead by ending enhanced unemployment benefits and allowing Congress to repurpose these taxpayer dollars for meaningful investments that create jobs like infrastructure, not short-term payoffs that cause a workforce shortage.”
The Get Americans Back to Work Act would decrease unemployment benefits to $150 per week at the end of May before fully repealing them by the end of June as opposed to September when they are currently scheduled to expire. The bill follows North Dakota Governor Doug Burgum announcing yesterday the state will terminate its participation in the federal government’s pandemic-related unemployment assistance programs effective June 19. Senator Cramer applauded this action in an interview on Fox Business earlier today. Click here to watch.
Senator Marshall, who is leading this effort, announced his intent to introduce this bill after Friday’s Department of Labor report showed an uptick in the unemployment rate to 6.1% and employers only adding 266,000 jobs last month, despite widespread projections of over one million jobs to be gained in April. Read Senator Cramer’s statement on the April Jobs Report here.
Senators Cramer and Marshall are joined on the bill by Senators Marsha Blackburn (R-TN), Mike Braun (R-IN), Steve Daines (R-MT), Joni Ernst (R-IA), Lindsey Graham (R-SC), Marco Rubio (R-FL), Rick Scott (R-FL), Tim Scott (R-SC), and Tommy Tuberville (R-AL). Representative Dusty Johnson (R-SD) is leading identical legislation in the House.