Indiana is a "right to work" BS state. Indiana has consistently had some of the lowest unemployment numbers in the country over the last decade. However the median household income has roughly been around 15-20% less than the national average. The COLA in Indiana is in the lower 20 percentile nationwide but like many states that have 1 or 2 large concentrations of population in larger cities with the rest spread out in smaller cities and towns that number is skewed. Indiana also ranks in the top 5 in infant mortality AND mortality for the mother, strange for a state that brags about it's universities and companies that specialize in health care.
I think it's important that people understand what these states are taking away. Most people think its just the extra 300 dollars but it's not. They are taking away the extended unemployment benefits also. And even those benefits are not the full unemployment benefits a person could get. They go off of what your original claim gave you. In Indiana you have to make roughly 35-40k a year before filing to get the full 370 dollars a week pre tax. Anything less and your weekly amount drops The average weekly payout is 225 dollars/week pre tax in Indiana currently without the extra 300. Indiana's current unemployment rate is around 4.2%. The rate in Nov. of 2019 was around 3.8. The Indiana DWD said in May there were roughly 265k people drawing unemployment from all programs including about 100k on the federal PUA and PEUC programs, with an estimated 160k jobs available. The average hourly pay for those jobs is 12/hr with only 60% offering full time. I can't find stats on benefits but I'm sure it's less than 10%. The governor chose to end those 2 programs along with the additional 300 dollars the 19th of this month. That means as of this week roughly 100k people lost access to any money at all, not just the extra 300. They also lost access to health insurance at little to no cost as that was part of Bidens relief bill, that anyone drawing unemployment could get health insurance at very little to no cost after 6/1/21.
BTW these programs cost the state 0 dollars, literally 0 dollars AND ALSO Indiana received over 2.5 billion from the FED to update the state DWD's systems and for training and hiring of additional staff to deal with the larger numbers of unemployed during the pandemic. Guess where most of that cash went. The state hired a private contractor NAVIENT to handle the increase in phone work and to audit those filing for unemployment. I have a BA and tried to go to work for the DWD, they sent me to NAVIENT!! Disgraceful.
My points concerning this state is first of all how come, when in Nov. of 2019 when the unemployment rate was slightly less than it is now, the state chamber of commerce wasn't screaming that businesses are closing because the state is paying to many people unemployment. I didn't see hundreds of businesses closing then for lack of help. I also didn't see low wage job offers at Micky D's or some of these slave factories we have in this state yelling they are offering 12 bucks an hour (WooHoo!). They were perfectly happy paying 8 or 9 back then. Trust me there are tons of these places in this state.
Secondly, it's roughly 80 days left before the extended benefits expire. Less than 3 months. School starts then enabling some parents to take day jobs. It's estimated Indiana will require another 1.8 billion from the FED to pay those programs thru the deadline. But wait, they got 2.5 billion to deal with all this and never hired a soul? Gave most of it to a 3rd party contractor?
Thirdly, and I think most intelligent beings will agree, this state and the other 25 repuke states doing this, it's nothing but a political ploy. It's straight out of the Reagan look tough on "lazy bastards" 101 playbook, it's always good for votes and, more importantly, cash in the campaign coffers from the business end. I would bet my house that no state will see an employment uptick of any significance in their job numbers because unemployment is not keeping people from working any more now than it was 2 years ago. It is cruel bullying and at it's deepest root racist. Because, at least in Indiana, the words spoken under breath are the lazy minorities are alive and strong and milking your tax dollars for a free ride.
Lastly is the ingrained ignorance of people and how they will inhale a soundbite like a starving crappie will inhale something shiny in early spring. I have a friend of over 50 years who drove all the way to Indy to one of the first outdoor concerts down there since before the pandemic. When I asked how it was he said it was great but he couldn't believe how many places were out of business because they couldn't find anyone to work. He's not a Trumper but he's also not very political. He usually votes Democrat when he votes. I asked how do you know it was because they couldn't find workers? Places were closed for nearly a year during this pandemic and a lot of them didn't have the capital to survive. His response was that's what everyone is saying, everybody lost their business because nobody will go back to work. Everyone's saying it, where have I heard that before.
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