Fla. House Kicks Back Unemployment Bill
TALLAHASSEE (CBS4) -- The Florida House and Senate continue to disagree on a bill that would reduce unemployment compensation benefits.
House members on Wednesday approved yet another version of the bill (HB 7005) by 86-31 and sent it back to the Senate. The legislative session is scheduled to end on Friday.
The House first wanted to reduce the existing 26-week limit on state benefits to 20 weeks and now has settled on 23 weeks.
The Senate had voted to keep the 26-week limit but only if the jobless rate reaches 12 percent or higher.
The time limit would drop on a sliding scale for lower rates, bottoming out at 12 weeks for any jobless rate of 5 percent or less. The bill also seeks to make those seeking benefits undergo a job-skills test.
(©2011 CBS Local Media, a division of CBS Radio Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)
