A plan on its way to the U.S. Senate would pump more money into state unemployment insurance programs.
That's to help people get through the economic effects of the corona virus outbreak. But Stephen O'Leary says the federal government can do more.
He's a senior economist at the Upjohn Employment Research Institute in Kalamazoo.
O'Leary says changes will be needed. They include dropping the requirement that people be looking for work in order to get benefits:
"This is a particular situation where you don't want people who are sick showing up to work, and you recognize that society is better off if they self-quarantine and take care of themselves. So, in this case, some of these rules that are normal under social insurance should be revised," O'Leary says.
O'Leary also says a federal income replacement program is needed to help people who don't have unemployment benefits. They include the self-employed, contract workers, and people in the "gig economy."
