GOP Sen. Marshall on Extended on Unemployment Benefits: ‘Major Limiting Factor’ for KS Economy Is Lack of People Returning to Work

Thursday, during an appearance on FBN’s “Mornings with Maria,” Sen. Roger Marshall (R-KS) decried Gov. Laura Kelly (D-KS) to continued extended unemployment benefits, which is believed to be incentivizing an unwillingness to return to the workplace as the risk from the COVID-19 pandemic decreases.

“[M]aybe I can share two anecdotes with you,” he said. “Several months ago, Governor Kristi Noem talked to me. I think she’s the only governor that declined this extra $300 a week from the federal government. And she said almost overnight, their unemployment in South Dakota went from 3.5 down to the 2s. The other anecdote I would share I was back in Kansas last week, visiting a warehouse on the Kansas-Missouri border, a well-known company. They’re doing great. They employ about 300 people.”

“But they’re 35 people short, so, of course, everybody there is working extra long hours,” Marshall continued. “And of about the last 15 people that they’ve employed, 14 were from Missouri. The big difference is Missouri has turned, is going to roll back that $300 a week, but our Kansas governor refuses to stop that extra $300. I know that’s anecdotal. But I think it’s true. As I talk to small businesses everywhere I go, their number one concern, the major limiting factor on the Kansas economy is the lack of people willing to return to work.”

Follow Jeff Poor on Twitter @jeff_poor

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