A southern Illinois congressman spoke on the House floor Wednesday night about the struggles of small businesses unable to hire enough workers because the federal government is often paying them more in unemployment benefits.
Representative Mike Bost of Murphysboro says Mary Lou's Grill in Carbondale is feeling the impact.
"Marilyn, the owner of Mary Lou's, shared that her food suppliers are unable to hire enough people to run their facilities. That potentially means food shortages, skyrocketing prices for restaurants and customers."
Bost says before the pandemic, the Broadway Grille in Sparta had more applications than open positions.
"But now, Justin, the owner, says some former employees have told him they will not seek a job as long as they're getting unemployment benefits. He is so short-staffed that he doesn't have enough people to answer the phone most nights."
Bost says people in Washington, D.C. need to hear these stories about how the enhanced unemployment benefits are crippling Main Street America.
