JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. — In a one-day session last month, the Missouri House and Senate succeeded in overturning Governor Jay Nixon’s veto of Missouri House Bill 150 (HB 150). That bill reduces unemployment benefits from a 20-week duration to 13 weeks if the jobless rate falls below 6 percent. In August—the most recent data available—the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported Missouri unemployment was at 5.6 percent.
With the legislative override, only North Carolina has a shorter unemployment period than Missouri, capping benefits at 12 weeks if the jobless rate falls below 5 percent.
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Will the reduction in the duration of unemployment benefits—from 20 weeks to 13 weeks—be good for the Lake of the Ozarks, or bad?
All Lake of the Ozarks representatives and senators voted in favor of HB 150 during the regular legislative session and again to override the Governor’s veto in September. Their affirmative votes were votes in favor of businesses and a reduction in State debt.
Similar legislation proposed in 2014 was designed to offset the State’s debt to the federal fund, borrowed during the economic downturn. Repaying that debt has added costs to businesses, and businesses have sought to reduce those costs. In 2014, Senator Mike Kehoe, who sponsored the legislation then, said that saving “money from unemployment insurance … [will allow businesses] to expand, hire more employees, pay existing employees more.” Representative Rocky Miller echoed this argument in 2015 when he advocated moving the bill forward to help Missouri’s unemployment fund balances.
Opponents of HB 150 argue that reducing unemployment benefits puts people at greater risk, and this was the reason given by Governor Nixon in his veto letter to the legislature. In addition, in 2014, the State’s labor department reported that the State’s debt to the federal fund would be paid back in 2015, rendering HB 150 unnecessary.
At Lake of the Ozarks, unemployment rates are 6-7 percent during the 100-day summer season in Camden and Miller counties; Morgan County’s unemployment rate for the same time period is higher and ranges from 7-8 percent. For all three counties, however, during the off-season, about one in ten men and women of working age are unemployed. The slow season lasts about 20 weeks, from sometime in October or November to March or April when seasonal businesses reopen and economic activity around the Lake increases.
What impact HB 150 will have on approximately 3,600 residents of Camden, Miller and Morgan counties unemployed in the off-season remains to be seen. It may, as businesses hope, encourage unemployed workers to take other jobs as soon as one becomes available. Those jobs trending up across the nation and in Missouri include professional and business services, food and drink establishments, both ambulatory and hospital healthcare, social assistance for infants, children, adults, and the disabled, and real estate or securities.
According to Lake of the Ozarks Regional Economic Development Council (LOREDC), between 2000 and 2013, job trends in Camden and Miller counties have reflected national trends. Camden has shown the most employment growth in several categories including managerial or professional jobs, recreation and food service, and financial or real estate positions. Camdenton, in Camden County, has also seen population growth in that time period.
Miller County is not far behind in these categories and has seen modest but steady population growth. Morgan County, where the population has declined, reported fewer jobs in those categories. For the unemployed in Camden and Miller counties, the reduction in benefits from 20 to 13 weeks may be less problematic if the job trends continue.
