Capitol Media Services JRep. David Cook chastises some of his House colleagues on Thursday for wasting time on proposals to amend a fire fighting bill that don’t have the necessary votes. ||Capitol Media Services photo from video
HOWARD FISCHER
The state’s unemployment rate remains at historic lows.
But those Arizonans who do find themselves out of work through no fault of their own won’t see their benefits cut, at least not this year.
A new report Thursday from the Office of Economic Opportunity shows the seasonally adjusted rate for June at 3.4%. No lower figure has been registered in the state since the current method of computing the statistic was instituted in the 1970s.
The report comes just days after state lawmakers narrowly defeated a proposal by Sen. Steve Kaiser, R-Phoenix, that would have sharply cut the length of time that Arizonans who are laid off can collect jobless benefits.
Kaiser contends the current system, which provides benefits of up to 26 weeks for those fired or laid off without case, removes the incentive for those out of work to go out and look for new employment.
He sought — and got the state Senate to approve — a graduated scale that based the eligibility period on the statewide unemployment rate. And at current levels, his SB 1167 would have ended benefits after just 12 weeks.
But two House Republicans aligned themselves with Democrats opposed to the bill, denying Kaiser the 31 votes he needed for approval.
One of them, Rep. David Cook of Globe, told Capitol Media Services on Thursday that a big flaw in what Kaiser was pushing was that the length of benefits would be based on that statewide unemployment rate — a rate that, because of where most of Arizonans live and work is linked heavily to economic conditions in the Phoenix metro area.
“If I lost my job in Chandler I could drive to Queen Creek,’’ he said.
