Posted by JM Ashby
In the search for ways to kick people who are already down, Florida Republicans have come up with a new idea: Require unpaid volunteer service to qualify for unemployment benefits.
Florida's jobless could soon have to do unpaid work for a non-profit group in order to be eligible for unemployment benefits.
State Rep. Kathleen Passidomo (R-Naples) recently introduced a bill that would require the state's unemployed to do at least four hours of unpaid service each week to qualify for benefits.
...Under the bill, residents who don't meet the volunteer service requirements could be denied unemployment benefits, which could shore up a system that already has a $2.07 billion deficit.
So Florida Republicans plan to fix their budget problems by requiring people to obtain unpaid jobs just to qualify for the unemployment insurance which they paid into at their former real job.
Passidomo says the experience gained from volunteering could lead to getting a real job. I suppose it could do that, if real jobs are even available. Of course it could also lead to the creation of a new unemployed slave class of people. Maybe, just maybe, it would be a better idea to create real jobs, with real pay, to rebuild a healthy tax-base.
By the way, you can now find me on The Twitters @JM_Ashby