Unemployment benefits are essential to the public safety net and provide critical financial support to Louisiana workers when they lose their job due to no fault of their own. But a bill working its way through the Legislature – House Bill 340 by Rep. Troy Romero – would increase hardship for people when they need help the most.
The bill would cut the maximum number of weeks that unemployed workers could receive benefits by tying the duration of benefits to the state unemployment rate over the previous three months.