TMA joins effort to end enhanced unemployment benefits

​SPRINGFIELD - Several statewide business and retail organizations - including the Technology & Manufacturing Association - signed onto a letter to Governor JB Pritzker this week, calling on him to end enhanced unemployment benefits and reinstate the work-seeking requirements required in the past.

“Illinois employers of all types and sizes are struggling to attract needed employees resulting in reduced hours and lost sales,” the group featuring manufacturing, construction, and retail associations said in a letter. “Those lost sales directly impact the budgets of the state and units of local government. Before we lose any more economic ground, now is the time to reinstate normal unemployment insurance operations, including work search requirements, and benefit levels.”

TMA Executive Vice President Dennis LaComb explained why manufacturers signed onto the letter. 

"Illinois manufacturers are telling us month after month that one of their biggest concerns - if not the biggest - is finding skilled team members," LaComb said. "They are saying that the shortage of applicants is actually keeping their businesses from returning to pre-COVID levels, and Governor Pritzker can change that easily." 

LaComb said he agreed wholeheartedly with the Illinois Retail Merchants Association CEO Rob Karr's comment in The Center Square where he said “The faster that everyone’s back in the workforce, the faster Illinois recovers and hopefully gets back to pre-pandemic performance."

The Center Square reports the letter was signed by Illinois Manufacturers' Association, Chicagoland Chamber of Commerce, Illinois Chamber of Commerce, Associated General Contractors of IL, National Federation of Independent Business, Illinois Hotel & Lodging Association, Technology & Manufacturing Association, Associated Builders and Contractors Inc., Illinois Automobile Dealers Association, Illinois Licensed Beverage Association, Automotive Parts & Service Association of IL, Illinois Lumber and Material Dealers Association and Illinois Fuel & Retail Association, among others.

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