State Rep. Will Bruck on Wednesday voted against a plan that will increase costs for small businesses throughout Michigan.

Bruck, R-Erie, also gave a speech opposing House Bill 5827, which would increase the maximum number of weeks that an individual may receive unemployment compensation from 20 to 26 weeks, even though Michigan’s unemployment rate has been under 4% for more than four months.

“Unemployment is not taxpayer funded, it’s business funded,” Bruck said. “This is a tax increase for small businesses that are already struggling. Twenty-six weeks is six months. Twenty weeks is four and a half months. It might not sound like a big difference to some of you, but it’s a huge difference when you’re the one who is paying into this fund. I’m asking for everyone to consider the small businesses in your community and the impact this will have.”

Bruck said the plan also disincentivizes individuals collecting unemployment from quickly finding a new job, which doesn’t make sense at a time when help-wanted signs are all over the place. Michigan had 261,000 job openings in January while reporting fewer than 200,000 active job seekers.

House Bill 5827 was approved by the House along partisan lines, advancing it to the Senate for further consideration.

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