A bill that would put stricter requirements on those seeking reemployment assistance is advancing in the Florida Legislature.
The measure would disqualify people who do not meet weekly employer contact quotas, mandate biweekly eligibility checks and more.
AFL-CIO's Rich Templin is opposing the bill. He says it will make it harder for people to get help and could place more strain on a system that struggled during the COVID-19 pandemic and continues to have difficulty.
"The entire unemployment insurance system collapsed. We were national news. People couldn't access the system. And when they could access the system, they could not get benefits. And that was by design. Even Governor DeSantis came out and said, 'Hey, I inherited this bad system. It was designed to fail, and guess what? We haven't fixed it. We haven't touched it," Templin said.
DeFuniak Springs Republican Representative Shane Abbott, the bill's sponsor, said high job openings in Florida means people should not stay on reemployment assistance for long.
"There's not a lack of job opportunities out there. And the reemployment benefits are not designed for you to be able to sit at the house while you wait on your dream job. It is to get you to your next employment. And that's what I'm trying to do with this bill," he said during the committee meeting.
The bill passed the committee along party lines, with Democrats opposing it, but it still has two committee stops in the Florida House and hasn't been heard yet by any Florida Senate committee.
Copyright 2025 WFSU
