State Rep. Charles Curtiss says he has legislation planned for next year that will change the way Tennessee distributes unemployment benefits to encourage people to find work instead of sitting at home and collecting a paycheck.That was just one of the topics discussed Friday morning during the annual Chamber of Commerce Legislative Breakfast at the TSU Nursery Research Center.Curtiss, along with state Rep. Judd Matheny and state Sen. Eric Stewart, talked about state budget cuts, the closing of Taft Youth Center in Pikeville, and preventing doctor shopping, a practice which has Tennessee ranked among the highest in the nation for prescription drug abuse.Curtiss says he believes the disbursement of unemployment benefits needs to change.“They way it is now, if you can make it the first two months, you can plan that money in your budget and you can make it the next two months,” said Curtiss. “I’d like to get it to where we front load the benefits and then wean them off. That makes it more of an incentive when the benefits start to drop.”Stewart said the current system allows people to sit back and become content collecting benefits.“Unemployment benefits are there to serve as a bridge,” said Stewart.
Legislative Breakfast held