Letters to the Editor published in the Feb. 2, 2022 issue of the Tomahawk Leader.
RE: Workforce Initiative Package proposed legislation
Legislation that offers no apparent help to the taxpayer or to those who fall between the cracks of a safety net should land up in the recycling bin of that state’s legislative process.
Punishing the poor for being poor is economically short-sighted. Which begs the question, just who would benefit from this proposed legislation?
The state’s current unemployment rate of 2.8% is at its lowest in decades. Realistically, anyone who shops offline realizes that most businesses are short-staffed. Talk to some of the business managers and you hear that a large part of the problem is due to the fact that too many current employees are “out” due to illness – either Covid, (which state legislative actions worsened rather than helped), or seasonal flu.
Will this proposed legislation offer reliable transportation to unfilled jobs for those without dependable transportation? Getting a job does not mean keeping a job if you cannot get to work every day.
Will this proposed legislation guarantee that those forced to accept any job would be able to cover normal, daily expenses? Or, will it be a case of filling undesirable, low-pay positions so that large corporations benefit while the taxpayer still has to cover basic needs through food stamps or rent subsidy programs?
Remember, there are many currently employed who must still rely on food banks and Medical Assistance because their jobs do not pay enough or offer insufficient hours of employment to cover daily expenses.
Again, just who would benefit from this proposed legislation?
What would benefit the average taxpayer are increased local aids to schools. State-imposed revenue limits negatively affect our local schools. Local legislators, why aren’t you addressing that state-imposed hardship?
School districts like ours face the impact of an increasingly elderly population along with declining school age enrollment. That demographic will not change in the near future, but will likely worsen. We need legislation that actually helps people rather than helping large corporations that tend to be very generous with campaign contributions.
Diana C. Smith
Tomahawk