Congress should not be trying to reform unemployment benefits on the fly.

If the nation’s system of jobless benefits needs work, and that’s an arguable proposition from the getgo, Congress should hold hearings — and get suggestions from those who are trying to find jobs as well as looking out for taxpayers and for the businesses that bear the costs of paying into the system.

The Republican proposals on the table come as talks proceed on whether to extend the payroll tax and to renew and/or shorten federal extensions of unemployment benefits.

The suggested changes to unemployment benefits include requiring jobless workers to have a high school diploma or GED before receiving benefits, or else to be enrolled in the appropriate classes to earn one or the other. (Maybe it would suffice, in Michigan, to say you are home schooling?) Under another proposal, states would be allowed to require drug tests as a condition of receiving benefits.

Keep in mind that no one gets jobless pay without having worked for a minimum period of time. People who get fired or quit do not qualify, either. Beyond the basic injustice, it makes little sense to incur the administrative costs of policing educational requirements (let alone setting up GED classes) or conducting drug tests on people who have already proved that they are hirable — because they have actually held jobs.

Keep in mind, too, that unemployment benefits also have merit for employers, by keeping a trained work force in place during downturns (or between tourist seasons), rather than watching them head off to Texas or North Dakota or wherever else the job prospects might look better. This is not welfare; jobless pay derives from an insurance system that employers fund.

It’s true that in places like Michigan, after a half-century of mostly cyclical downturns followed by generally rapid recoveries, a new emphasis on retraining and skill upgrades makes sense. But much of that has already been happening and most of it goes far beyond asking people whether they can dredge their diploma out of the boxes in the attic.

And while some unemployed workers may turn to the bong (or the bottle) for a while, that hardly negates the fact that their employers paid into the unemployment insurance fund on their behalf. Or that jobs remain quite scarce, even for the most sober of job seekers, in Michigan and many other parts of the country.

Perhaps a reformed system would pay people to relocate, rather than keeping them afloat in a state that looks like a jobs graveyard. Perhaps it would include an opportunity to compete for grants to start a business, as Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder has suggested. Perhaps it would include community service projects and internship opportunities to expose people to new career paths.

Perhaps Congress should ask people who’ve lost their jobs what a better system would look like.

— Detroit Free Press

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