►
From YouTube: Interim Joint Committee on Tourism, Small Business, and Information Technology 6-17-21
Description
No description was provided for this meeting.
If this is YOUR meeting, an easy way to fix this is to add a description to your video, wherever mtngs.io found it (probably YouTube).
A
Welcome
to
the
first
media
interim
joint
committee
on
economic
development
and
workforce
investment
for
the
2021
interim,
along
with
co-chair
schroeder
and
co-chair
king,
would
like
to
welcome
all
the
members.
I'm
going
to
ask
sashi
to
call
the
roll
and
ask
each
member
when
they
answer
the
role
to
indicate
the
response.
Whether
they
are
here
in
my
frankfurt
office
or
here
remotely.
E
E
A
G
G
L
A
District,
we
have
a
quorum
all
right
for
those
of
you
who
are
participating
remotely
our
committee
staff
is
monitoring
the
chat
function
in
the
zoom
application.
If
you
have
a
question
or
want
to
make
a
comment,
please
indicate
in
the
check
box.
If
you'd
like
to
ask
a
question
or
make
a
comment,
you
can
also
let
staff
know
that
you
are
present
in
the
chat
box.
If
we
didn't
get
you
doing
the
roll
call,
if
you
are
participating
remotely,
please
keep
your
microphone
muted.
A
Unless
you
are
speaking
meeting
materials
are
also
available
on
the
lrc
website.
A
link
was
previously
provided
to
all
members
all
right,
we're
ready
to
go
so
at
this
point
time,
we'd
like
to
bring
up
the
kentucky
retail
federation.
Please
approach
the
desk,
introduce
yourself
for
the
records
and
proceed.
D
D
The
retail
industry
in
kentucky
is
the
largest
single
private
employer,
private
sector
employer
and,
of
course,
as
you
all
know,
and
recognize,
it
drives
the
economy,
creating
jobs
in
local
communities
and,
as
a
matter
of
fact,
26
percent
one
in
four
one
and
every
four
jobs
is
supported
by
the
retail
industry.
Here
in
the
commonwealth,
there's
about
56
000
retail
establishments
across
kentucky
employing
almost
430
000
kentuckians.
D
Some
of
those,
for
example,
that
you
may
be
familiar
with-
and
some
of
you
all
have
gotten
accustomed
to-
is
what
we
call
buy
online
purchasing
store
where
retail
locations
really
became
micro,
warehouses,
and
so
a
lot
of
those
sales
associates
shifted
from
cashiers
or
stockers
to
filling
orders
that
were
made
online
where
customers
would
come
in
and
pick
up.
D
Many
of
these
business
practices
are
here
to
stay,
and
it's
because
contest
customers
have
gotten
accustomed
to
shopping
that
way
and
from
the
surveys
that
we've
seen
a
lot
of
them
like
like
to
shop.
That
way,
it's
it's
more
convenient
and
it
fits
in
with
their
lifestyle.
Now.
The
good
news
is:
is
that
there's
pinup
demand
for
shopping
both
within
stores
and
online,
which
we're
very
glad
to
see
we're
glad
to
see
retail
come
back,
we're
glad
to
see
customers
coming
back
to
the
stores
and
spending
money.
D
D
It's
a
good
thing
for
the
industry,
but
if
stores
can't
get
associates
and
workers
to
come
into
the
stores,
they're
going
to
have
real
challenges,
meeting
the
expectations
that
shoppers
have
when
they
come
in.
So
now
that
kentucky's
opening
retailers
are
facing
a
new
challenge
and
that's
trying
to
hire
enough
people.
D
No
doubt
you
all
have
seen
some
of
the
hiring
announcements
by
some
of
the
major
chains
like
texas,
roadhouse
and
kroger
they're
they're
needing
tens
of
thousands
of
workers
and
employees
across
the
united
states,
not
to
mention
if
you
drive
around
any
of
your
local
communities
within
your
district.
You
can't
help
but
see
now
hiring
signs,
in-store
windows.
D
Many
of
them
are
being
pretty
creative
they're,
offering
bonuses,
signing
bonuses,
pay
increases,
they're,
adding
benefits
to
their
packages,
but
they're
having
a
tough
time
balancing
these
increased
labor
costs
with
their
operating
budgets.
They
simply
you
know
a
budget
is
a
budget.
You
only
have
so
much
money
that
can
go
around
so
there's,
certainly
some
challenges,
especially
for
the
smaller
independent
operators
out
there
that
are
competing
for
talent.
So
in
preparation
for
the
meeting
today,
mr
chairman,
we
decided
to
survey
our
members.
D
We
did
this
very
quickly
just
to
try
to
get
some
idea
and
some
feedback
from
from
our
folks
as
to
what
they're
hearing
and
seeing
out
there,
and
by
and
large
it
verified
the
anecdotal
stories
and
comments
that
we
were
hearing
and
we're
seeing
in
the
media
from
a
quick
survey
of
members
just
about
every
one
of
them
had
positions
to
fill
that
wasn't
surprising
they're
offering
benefits.
As
I
said
before,
including
health
insurance
retirement
plans
paid
time
off
flexible
schedule,
scheduling
the
overwhelming
majority
are
paying
10
to
15
an
hour
average
starting
wage.
D
So
that's
a
starting
wage
10
to
15
an
hour
and
they're,
telling
us
that
they're
seeing
fewer
job
applicants
prior
as
prior
to
the
pandemic.
We
asked
our
members
to
tell
us
the
reasons
they
hear
that
a
job
applicant
may
not
accept
an
offer
of
employment,
and
I
thought
these
were
some
interesting
results.
D
So
eighty
percent
of
the
time
they're
hearing
that
it's
because
of
the
federal
unemployment
insurance
benefit
payment,
the
extra
three
hundred
dollars,
forty
percent
of
the
time,
they're
hearing
that
it's
a
child
care
or
family
responsibility
as
a
reason
that
someone
could
not
accept
a
job.
And
we
hear
that
as
well,
so
that
that
corroborates
with
with
what
we
hear
all
the
time,
23
percent
of
the
workers
have
health
concerns
due
to
covet.
D
Some
workers
took
advantage
of
the
pandemic
to
learn
other
skills
and
just
move
to
other
fields.
Some
have
retired
and
sadly
I
hate
to
sit
here
and
say,
but
some
decided
that
they
don't
feel
safe.
Working
in
a
retail
environment
and
we've
all
seen
during
the
pandemic,
the
rudeness
of
customers
and
even
violence-
that's
occurred
in
retail
establishments,
so
I
know
the
labor
shortage
has
brought
the
attention
of
everybody.
D
But
let
me
be
clear
and
say
too
that
we
had
a
labor
shortage
before
the
pandemic.
We
saw
a
lot
of
now.
Hiring
signs
in
2018,
2019
and
truck
drivers
is
a
great
example.
That's
been
a
shortage
area
for
a
long
long
time,
so
you
know
we
still
have
a
lot
of
challenges
out
there,
but
retailers
are
they're
dynamic.
N
Thanks
todd,
so
my
company,
the
willis
music
company,
we've,
we've
persevered
for
122
years,
we've
been
in
business,
so
we
started
in
1899
and
I
followed
the
footsteps
of
my
father
and
my
grandfather
and
our
youngest
daughter
will
take
over
leadership
of
the
company,
hopefully
in
the
in
the
near
future,
we'll
see
how
that
goes.
But
everything
is
going
very
well
for
us
considering
we
just
came
through
a
pandemic,
so
the
retail
federation
represents.
N
You
know
retailers
across
the
state
naturally-
and
there
are
some
very
large
retailers
in
our
group
and
then
there's
many
like
myself-
that
are
small
retailers,
the
large
ones
they
were
considered
essential
businesses,
so
really
they
had
a
pretty
good
year.
But
for
the
rest
of
us
we
were
non-essential
and
we
were
close
so
at
willis.
We
were
closed
for
about
two
months
from
mid-march
through
mid-may.
N
N
N
We
have
less
hours,
so
we
don't
have
as
large
as
staff,
but
the
staff
we
have
are
the
ones
that
have
been
with
us,
the
longest
that
are
the
the
most
effective
on
the
job.
So
they
are
earning
more
money.
So
that's
that's
been
a
good
thing
all
the
way
around.
For
us,
we
are
still
not
reopening
on
sunday
and
I
think
that
might
stay
as
a
permanent
thing,
which
is
really
fine
with
me,
so
our
business
has
certainly
picked
up.
Things
have
gotten
better
due
to
that
really.
N
Activity
wise,
so
we
rent
in
those
two
months
and
then
we
we
collect
the
rental
payments
monthly
throughout
the
remainder
of
the
school
year
and
beyond,
because
some
students
stay
in
band
for
several
years,
so
that
was
all
gone
for
us
so
that
that
was
a
big
deal
each
month,
we're
down
in
that
part
of
the
business,
and
we
are
greatly
looking
forward
to
august
and
september,
which
are
coming
pretty
quickly,
I'm
glad
to
say.
N
N
I
was
very
happy
to
hear
yesterday
that
the
governor
came
out
with
some
ideas
that
we
are
actively
promoting
and
that
is
paying
people
or
incentivizing
people
to
cope,
go
back
to
work
and
not
to
stay
at
home.
I
know
of
six
states
that
are
doing
such
programs
so
they're,
offering
a
benefit
for
those
who
were
unemployed,
that
accepted
new
jobs
that
stay
employed
for
x
number
of
weeks
and
there's
a
variety
from
these
states.
N
There's
there's
variation
on
it,
and
these
states
are
arizona,
colorado,
connecticut,
new
hampshire,
oklahoma
and
montana,
and
our
staff
would
be
happy
to
get
those
programs
to
to
anyone
here.
We
have
those
available,
so
the
retail
industry
is,
like
todd,
said
the
largest
employer
in
the
commonwealth,
and
we
suffer
from
an
inaccurate
perception
sure
we
have
entry-level
jobs.
N
We
support
careers
and
a
high
standard
of
living
for
many
kentuckians
from
our
survey
10
to
15
dollars
an
hour
starting
wage.
What
todd
said
was
very
common,
but
we
are
taking
another
step,
we're
developing
a
program
for
retail
training,
for
our
schools
and
for
our
members
that
my
colleague,
cassie
grigsby,
will
talk
about
and
explain
further.
I
want
to
thank
you
for
your
time
today
and
I
look
forward
to
any
questions
you
might
have.
Thank
you.
Cassie.
B
Thank
you
kevin
good
afternoon,
as
kevin
mentioned,
I
am
here
to
talk
about
this
program.
The
kentucky
retail
institute
is
a
501c3
organization
created
by
the
kentucky
retail
federation,
focusing
on
workforce
development,
industry
awareness
and
education
through
member
surveys,
focus
groups
and
many
conversations.
We
consistently
hear
retailers
of
all
types
and
sizes
struggle
to
find
employees.
B
B
Therefore,
we
are
currently
creating
a
nationally
recognized
apprenticeship
and
training
program
approved
by
the
u.s
department
of
labor
focus.
That's
called
retail
operations
specialist.
The
apprenticeship
is
a
one
to
two
year
program,
depending
on
full
or
part-time
status
of
the
individual
participating
and
includes
both
on-the-job
training
and
web-based
or
classroom
related
technical
instruction.
B
This
program
covers
many
segments
of
retail,
such
as
customer
service,
marketing
ordering
and
purchasing
product
back
office
store
security
and
several
other
additional
areas.
The
goal
with
this
apprenticeship
is
to
teach
or
give
the
apprentice
an
overall
understanding
of
operating
a
retail
establishment.
B
In
addition
to
the
apprenticeship,
an
employer
has
the
opportunity
to
purchase
individual
training
modules
if
they
want
to
focus
on
training
employees
on
one
particular
subject
matter
as
cus
as
consumers
shopping
in
a
store.
We
don't
always
consider
people
and
positions
required
to
get
that
product
to
the
shelf
for
us
to
purchase.
B
Someone
must
order
the
product
receive
it,
track
the
inventory
and
shipments
market,
the
product
issue,
payments
for
the
inventory
and
process
payroll
for
the
employees
that
perform
these
tasks.
In
addition,
they
have
to
follow
local
state
and
federal
laws
to
properly
operate
the
business
and
employ
individuals.
B
In
my
example,
there
are
at
least
five
different
positions,
including
a
buyer
inventory,
control,
marketing,
accounting
and
human
resources,
some
of
which
you
would
not
usually
consider
as
retail
jobs.
As
mentioned
earlier
a
couple
times.
The
retail
industry
is
the
largest
private
employer
in
the
commonwealth
of
kentucky,
and
there
are
many
career
opportunities
in
this
industry.
The
kentucky
retail
institute
is
striving
to
be
a
leader
across
the
nation
for
the
retail
industry.
I
would
like
to
thank
you
for
your
time
today
and
I'm
happy
to
answer
any
questions.
G
O
O
G
D
So
we,
we
are
a
part
of
a
coalition,
the
small
business
caucus
that
did
send
a
communication
letter
to
the
governor,
asking
that
he
considered
to
rescind
that
and
and
not
accept
the
payments.
To
my
knowledge,
I
don't
know
that.
There's
been
a
communication,
you
know
I'd
have
to
ask
our
government
affairs
team
to
see
if
they've
had
any
conversations
with
the
governor
or
his
staff.
At
this
point,
one
follow-up
please
so
I
will.
G
D
G
L
Thank
you
for
the
presentation
today
very
informative,
mr
griffin,
when
you
were
polling
your
retail
organizations,
did
you
regionally
look
at
the
responses
you
were
getting
and
the
reason
why
I
asked
that
is
you
know
we
talk
about
the
300
and
in
my
in
my
district,
I'm
in
lexington,
45th
district
and
the
responses.
I'm
getting.
Are
it's
it's
abundantly,
it's
more
than
fifty
percent
or
it's
day
care
action
it
opportunities.
L
D
We
did
not.
No,
it
was
a
very
quick
survey.
We
just
sent
it
out
to
all
of
our
members
across
the
state
and-
and
we
did
not
ask
for
region
as
as
part
of
one
of
the
questions,
unfortunately,
and
and
when
we
gave
them
options
to
choose,
they
could
have
chosen
the
the
300
and
child
care.
I
mean
they
could
have
done
multiples.
So
you
know-
and
I
was
not
surprised-
that
the
pua
kind
of
rose
to
the
top,
but
we
know
that
child
care
is
a
huge
issue.
D
It's
been
an
issue
for
many
many
years.
I
know
as
a
parent
myself.
Thank
goodness
our
kids
are
getting
a
little
older,
but
when
they
were
younger,
oh
my
gosh,
it's
it's
a
continuing
challenge.
I
know
kevin
as
a
business
owner
you
you
all
you
deal
with
that
every
day,
I'm
sure
with
your
support.
Well,
we
do.
We
just.
N
L
To
go
along
with
that,
you
know
wanna
predominantly
it's
it's
the
moms
that
stay
home
in
that
case,
so
we're
definitely
seeing
some
statistics
coming
out
about
women
staying
home.
One
follow-up
question:
yes,
sir,
mr
cranley,
yes,
you
run
an
outstanding
business
and
I
want
to
go
ahead
and
go
on
the
record
and
officially
apologize
for
the
condition
of
my
son's
trumpet.
L
The
pandemic
was
rough
on
the
trumpet
in
our
house.
Luckily,
we
paid
for
the
insurance,
so
please
don't
hold
that
against
us
when
we
return
it.
N
N
G
Thank
you,
mr
chairman,
thank
you
for
the
presentation
today.
It's
one
of
the
things
that
I
would
ask
the
panel
is
that
do
we
have
any
statistics
on
how
many
folks
are
staying
home
because
you
know
a
lot
of
times.
What
we
do
is
the
perception
of
what
we
say
you,
you
think
that
all
these
folks
are
staying
home
because
of
the
300,
and
I
may
say
earlier
that
you
we
had
a
work
shortage
prior
to
the
pandemic.
G
Okay
and
we
don't
have
the
right
skill
sets
and
if
somebody
is,
I
would
like
to
know
if
there's
a
percentage
of
how
many
you
think
folks
are
doing
and
if
so,
300
dollars
if
they're
staying
home
because
of
300,
we
should
look
internally
and
ask
ourselves
why?
Because
the
300
is
making
that
much
of
a
difference
that
some
of
the
folks
seem
to
think
that's
the
issue.
G
Then
we
got
a
problem
here.
People
are
being
paid
properly
or
paid
enough
to
of
what
I
call
a
living
wage
weekly
wage
to
in
this
state.
I
do
like
one
thing
I
I
would
like
to
know
a
percentage
of
you
don't
have
it.
Could
you
get
it
to
me?
It'd
be
great,
and
one
thing
I
think,
is
very
interesting
because
we're
never
going
to
go
back
to
the
way
we
were
before
and
there's
a
good
and
there's
some
bad,
but
one
of
the
good
things
is
like
you
said
about
being
closed
on
sundays.
G
I
remember
you
know
when
nothing
was
open
on
sundays
except
the
the
hospitals
and
things
like
that,
and
that's
not
a
bad
thing.
You
know.
So
thank
you
for
your
presentation,
but
if
you
can
get
that
to
me,
I
just
hate
hearing
that
about
the
three
hundred
dollars.
If
I
may
say
this,
mr
chairman,
because
there's
more
to
that,
I
mean
there's,
we've
got
to
take
a
look
at
the
child
care.
Most
of
the
folks.
I've
talked
to
my
constituents
in
my
area.
G
N
Thank
you.
Can
I
respond
just
so
one
one
of
the
areas
that
that
kind
of
allowed
families
where
there's
two
workers
to
deal
with
the
child
care
issue
is,
is
our
restaurant
business,
which
are
all
retailers
naturally,
and
that's
an
area
probably
the
hardest
hit
during
the
pandemic?
It's
if
you've
been
out
to
eat
it.
All
you
know,
you've
probably
felt
the
effects
of
the
workers
shortage
and
there's
a
lot
more
flexibility
in
that
part
of
our
industry
too.
N
G
Thank
you,
mr
chairman.
It
was
mentioned
that
the
average
pay
is
10
to
15
an
hour
from
the
folks
y'all
represent
and
you
said,
plus
benefits.
How
much
are
those
benefits
worth?
Would
you
estimate
to
the
individual.
D
Oh,
it's
gonna,
it's
gonna
depend
on,
I
guess
the
benefit
level.
You
know
the
cost
of
the
benefit,
but
I
would
just
guessing
kevin.
You
may
have
a
better
idea.
I
would
add
another
20
to
30.
On
top
of
that,
some
of
you
all
that
are
business
owners.
Is
that
a
reasonable
benchmark,
probably
yeah,
close.
N
A
N
N
G
Not
a
wage
but
right
the
value
of
the
employment
to
the
individual.
It
would
raise
it
twelve
to
nineteen
dollars
an
hour
essentially
using
the
twenty
or
thirty
percent
numbers.
D
K
Thank
you,
mr
chairman,
and
thank
you
all
this
afternoon
for
your
presentation
very,
very
timely
and
very
good
information.
Mr
griffin,
I'm
gonna
just
direct
the
question
to
you.
I
recently
had
a
conversation
with
one
of
my
retailers
and
I've
had
conversations
with
a
lot
of
them,
but
a
specific
conversation
with
one
of
my
retailers
just
a
couple
of
weeks
ago,
and
he
runs
probably
one
of
the
most
successful
dairy
queens
in
this
state.
K
That
was
interested
and-
and
I
know
that
the
child
care
issue
is-
is
a
big
issue.
I
realize
that,
but
I
think
in
in
the
area
that
I'm
from
that
and-
and
he
certainly
agreed
with
this-
that
it
that
his
problem
and
other
retailers
in
that
same
type
of
industry,
it
certainly
is
and
there's
there's
other
factors
as
well.
There's
other
factors,
but
one
of
the
big
factors
is
them
receiving
that
those
extra
three
hundred
dollars
per
week.
K
That
is
keeping
people
from
coming
in
and
going
back
to
work
and-
and
I
think,
like
the
one
representative
said
over
there-
we
have
a.
We
have
a
situation
here-
that
we
have
one
person
in
this
state
that
I
think
could
could
really
change
that
quickly
if
they
would
and
I-
and
I
would
encourage
them
to
do
that,
but
again
and
in
different
areas
of
the
state.
I
know
there's
different,
there's
different
factors
there.
K
K
So
what
can
I
tell
him
and
tell
others
that
that
asked
me
those
same
questions?
What
what
can
I
actually
tell
them
from
your
perspective.
D
Well,
it
it.
It
is
a
quandary
and-
and
I'm
not
going
to
shy
away
from
the
fact
that
retail's
tough,
I
mean
it's
a
challenging
industry
to
go
into
and
a
challenging
career,
and
I
would
agree
16
an
hour
in
in
your
districts,
not
not
shabby
starting
wage.
D
But
there's
more
than
that,
you
can
become
your
own
dairy,
queen
franchisee,
you
can
leap
from
a
dairy
queen
to
a
you
know,
to
another
type
of
retail,
related
business
service,
business,
or
not
even
in
retail,
take
your
training
and
go
to
a
different
career
track
and
really
promote
the
fact
that
that
you
know
16
an
hour
starting,
but
there's
a
whole
lot
more
than
that.
Now
immediately.
You
know
we
would
hope
the
governor
would
do
something
fairly
quickly,
but
it's
my
understanding
that
the
extra
pandemic
benefits
end
sometime
in
september.
D
So
we'll
be
quickly
approaching
that
we'll
see
what
you
know,
how
things
look
economically
and
within
the
labor
force,
I
guess
as
we
get
into
the
fall.
I
wish
I
had
more
to
say
I'd
love
to
visit
with
him
myself
just
so
we
could
chat
more
about
what
we
the
opportunities.
I
think
we
have
and
and
to
help
him.
You
know
figure
out
a
way
to
to
address
those
challenges.
D
K
Quick,
please
I'll,
be
very
brief,
and-
and
I
know
we
have
miss
watts
here
from
the
chamber
and
recently
spoke
speaking
to
my
local
chamber
president
as
well.
They
had
a
a
job,
fair
and,
and
they,
the
chamber,
the
industries
around
had
had
almost
200
jobs
that
they
needed
to
fill
immediately,
and
some
of
those
were
a
lot
more
than
16
an
hour,
and
he
had
two
people
two
out
of
almost
200
positions
and
again
I
think
we
go
back
to.
K
Q
Thank
you,
mr
chair,
mr
griffin,
mr
cranley,
I
have
appreciated
your
comments
here
today.
I've
heard
a
lot
of
comments
from
my
colleagues
that
are
critical
of
the
governor,
but
in
preparation
for
this
meeting
today,
I
think
we
need
to
quantify
what
the
federal
pandemic
unemployment
conversation
has
meant
for
this
state,
and
I
just
want
to
share
with
my
colleagues
who
are
members
of
this
committee
today
that
those
additional
funds
have
brought
in
over
4
billion
dollars
to
this
state.
Since
the
inception
of
the
initial
cares
act
back
in
march
of
2020.
Q
Okay,
now,
let's
think
about
that.
Okay,
that
money's
been
spent
on
food
on
housing
on
clothing
necessities,
so
people
can
live
and
without
that
four
billion
dollars,
I
would
hate
to
think
the
kind
of
shape
or
condition
the
state
would
be
in
without
that
money,
and
I
think
our
governor's
been
very
sensitive
to
the
needs
of
kentuckians
in
maintaining
that
kind
of
conversation,
which
is,
as
you
said,
three
dollars
a
week.
Q
So
frankly,
I
support
the
governor
and
his
position
in
terms
of
you
know,
keeping
that
that
money
available,
because
people
need
that
to
live
off
on.
Okay
and
and
and
we
talk
about
you
know,
you
know,
people
aren't
going
to
work,
but
I
think
what
we
don't
talk
about,
mr
griffin
and
mr
cranley
is
that
half
of
the
jobs
that
have
been
lost
because
this
pandemic
are
not
coming
back.
Q
Okay,
I
think
we
got
to
acknowledge
that
so
so
they're
lesser
jobs
now
than
there
were
50
50
less
than
there
were
a
year
ago.
So
so
you
know
many
people
can't
go
back
to
work
because
there's
nothing
to
go
back
to
work
too.
So
I
just
want
to
bring
that
to
the
attention
of
the
members
of
committee
that
this
money's
been
used
so
that
people
can
live
just
like
we
want
to
live
and
that
many
of
these
jobs
about
half
of
them
have
not
come
back.
G
Yes,
thank
you
and
thank
you
all
for
coming
today.
There's
another
angle
that
I
haven't
heard
talked
about
much
and
I
was
talking
to
a
logger
the
other
day
and
he
normally
has
nine
to
ten
employees
and
he
has
enough
equipment
to
run
three
logging.
G
Crews
now
he's
down
to
two
employees
can
barely
get
a
job
done
with
his
two
employees,
but
he's
having
finance
equipment
for
three
jobs
and
he's
getting
in
a
position
where
he
may
not
be
able
to
make
it,
and
you
know
just
logging
with
one
crew,
and
you
know
that's
another
point
besides
and
I
know
it's
desperately
needing
employees.
G
I
talked
to
a
sawmill
owner,
that's
25
percent,
employee
short.
He
had
to
raise
all
his
employees
pay
and
he
said
he's
lost
money
for
the
last
two
years
and
with
this
increase
in
the
pay
raises,
he
said
he's
going
to
increase
his
payroll
352
000
a
year.
You
know
that's
another
angle,
that's
part
of
it!
Thank
you.
H
Thank
you
for
your
presentation.
First
of
all,
a
foundational
question
for
me.
H
D
Idea
as
far
as
the
membership
records
we
don't
when
they
join,
we
don't
ask
how
many
employees
you
have,
but
we
would
guess
that
about
half
of
our
membership
is
probably
in
that
category,
although
I'm
always
surprised
at
what
you
think
is
a
typical
small
business
and
they're
employing
you
know,
40
or
50
employees,
even
in
a
small
retail
shop.
I'm
always
surprised
by
that.
B
Help
us
better
to
understand
the
survey
data
that
you
gave,
because
I
think
that
was
a
lot
of
your
presentation.
So
could
you
let
me
know
how
many
people
responded
to
the
surveys
and
did
you?
Could
you
perhaps
make
the
questions
available
to
us,
so
we
can
understand
how
they
were
asked
and
then
the
final
part
of
that
is
how
many
of
your
members
took
advantage
of
pua
themselves
as
small
business
owners,
and
did
they
have
some
feedback
on
that?
For
us?
Oh.
D
That's
a
good
question:
we
need
to
survey
that
yeah.
I
would
I'm
guessing
more
than
I
would
ppp
yeah
the
ppp.
B
A
Thank
you
all
for
testimony
a
couple
things
to
mr
beckler.
Actually,
I
can
tell
you
this
employer,
we
add
on
25
of
whatever
hourly
wage,
we're
paying
someone
that's
what
we
budget
in
all
the
time
and
recently
guys.
I
just
heard
tom
underwood
at
nfib,
give
testimony
that
ninety
percent
of
con
all
kentucky
employers
have
open
positions
unfilled,
so
it
is
and
on
child
care
guys.
If
you
haven't,
missed
your
emails
from
melanie
baker,
she
has
been.
She
has
been
bombarded
us
every
day,
if
not
weekly,
about
unfairly.
A
They
have
been
treated
compared
to
everyone
else,
so
child
care
is
an
issue.
It's
going
to
be
an
issue
until
the
governor
actually
treats
him
like
he
does
schools.
So
it's
going
to
be
hard
hard
to
get
get
the
workforce
back.
But
thank
you
guys
for
your
testimony.
I
appreciate
you
guys
coming
today
and
our
next
presenter.
Thank
you.
D
C
One
of
the
highlights,
really,
I
think,
was
the
paying
back
of
the
loan
of
the
unemployment
insurance
trust
fund
that
that
you
guys
passed
the
last
couple
days
of
session
and
the
governor
signed
into
law,
and
that
very
much
goes
into
the
conversation
we're
going
to
have
today.
But
I
just
want
to
thank
you
all
for
passing
those
pieces
of
legislation
that
really
are
going
to
help
all
of
us
recover
post-pandemic.
C
I
don't
want
to
be
too
repetitive
with
what
the
retail
federation
said,
but
a
lot
of
the
same
stories.
We
could
tell
from
the
chamber
perspective
as
well,
and
I
think
one
good
point
to
kind
of
point
out
is:
we
are
now
kind
of
on
the
other
side
of
the
pandemic.
I
keep
saying
the
lights
at
the
end
of
the
tunnel.
We
might
be
at
the
end
of
the
tunnel
by
now.
Vaccines
are
obviously
readily
available.
We
are
encouraging
everyone
to
get
vaccinated.
C
We
have,
I
think,
about
two
percent
positivity
rate
business
is
fully
reopened,
and
so
things
are
really
looking
promising
and
I
think
there's
optimism
among
the
business
community,
but
the
big
issue
that
we
hear
about
from
every
single
member-
and
it's
not
you,
know
only
retail
restaurant,
it's
healthcare,
it's
manufacturing,
it's
banking
is
the
workforce,
participation
shortage
and
you
guys
have
probably
heard
me
over
the
last
several
years,
talk
about
workforce
participation
and
like
many
issues
with
the
pandemic,
a
lot
of
our
inequities
here
in
kentucky
were
heightened
and
workforce
participation
was
absolutely
one
of
them.
C
Before
the
pandemic.
We
had
been
making
strides
in
our
workforce
participation
rate
and
we
had
gotten
into
the
low
40s,
which
we
would
still
like
to
be
higher
than
the
bottom
10,
but
our
workforce
participation
through
collaborations
with
education,
government
businesses
was
really
improving
and
we
were
getting
our
people
into
the
workforce
very
quickly.
Last
year,
as
you
all
know,
our
workforce
participation,
we
went
to
50th
in
the
nation.
C
We
have
now
settled
in
around
48th
in
the
nation
in
terms
of
workforce
participation
with
only
west
virginia
and
mississippi
behind
us,
and
I
think
there
was
a
question
earlier
about
how
many
people
have
really
left
the
workforce.
What
is
the
difference?
A
good
number
just
to
know
is
that
there's
a
hundred
thousand
people
less
or
fewer
in
the
workforce
today
than
there
was
last
march
when
the
pandemic
hit.
C
So
we
have
still
not
gotten
back
about
a
hundred
thousand
people
that
that
were
out
of
the
workforce
since
last
march,
we
can
all
talk
about
the
anecdotal
stories.
Representative
hale
shared
the
story
about
the
job
fair.
We
can
all
drive
through.
You
know,
whatever
main
street,
you
live
on
and
see
the
hiring
signs.
I
recently
saw
a
coupon
in
a
paper
saying
that
if
you
cut
out
this
coupon
and
if
you
fill
out
an
application
at
this,
restaurant
you'll
get
a
free
value
meal.
C
C
There
really
is
some
data
to
back
it
up
right
now
there
is
a
big
gap
between
kentucky's
labor
force,
participation
rate
and
that
of
the
national
average
and
the
last
several
months.
I
hope
you
guys
have
seen
this.
The
chamber
has
partnered
with
uk
to
produce
quarterly
economic
reports
just
to
really
coming
out
of
the
pandemic.
C
Take
a
snapshot
every
couple
of
months
on
how
we
are
doing
with
our
economy,
to
make
sure
we're
keeping
our
eye
on
the
ball
and
making
sure
that
we
come
out
of
this
and
right
now
there
is
a
gap
between
our
average
and
the
nation's
average
of
4.8
percent,
and
basically
this
says
that
the
people
that
are
have
been
lost.
Their
jobs
during
the
recession
are
not
looking
for
work
in
kentucky
as
much
compared
to
the
rest
of
the
nation.
C
We
are
almost
five
percentage
points
lower
than
the
national
average
in
terms
of
workforce
participation
rate.
Another
thing
we
really
want
to
talk
about
is
basically
upskilling
or
making
sure
that
we
are
training
our
workforce
for
the
needs
and
the
demands
of
our
businesses
and
our
employers
and
right
now
there
are
obviously
issues
with
that.
There
were
issues
before
the
pandemic
and
there
are
issues
now
as
we
come
out
of
it.
One
thing
that
I
would
like
to
point
out
is
that
our
educational
attainment
levels
trails
the
nation
in
a
pretty
significant
way.
C
24.2
of
kentuckians
have
a
bachelor's
degree
compared
to
32
percent
nationally,
and
so
that's
an
important
point.
When
we
talk
about
looking
at
the
budget
and
funding
education,
that
really
does
make
a
difference
when
it
comes
in
terms
of
workforce
participation
and
getting
people
back
into
the
workforce
and
where
many
of
our
surrounding
states
have
increased
their
baccalaureate
attainment.
How
many
people
have
those
bachelor
degrees?
C
Kentucky's
have
has
dropped
over
the
last
decade,
so
we
definitely
need
to
be
moving
in
the
opposite
direction
when
it
comes
in
terms
of
education
and
getting
our
kentuckians
trained,
employed
skilled
ready
for
the
workforce-
and
I
think
this
was
mentioned
earlier.
According
to
the
bureau
of
labor
statistics,
there
is
an
all-time
high
of
job
openings.
C
So
right
now
in
the
united
states,
the
latest
numbers
I'll
give
you
some
some
stats,
really
quick,
9.3
million
job,
openings
and
jessica
on
the
kentucky
chamber
website
alone,
which
is
not
all-inclusive
by
any
means,
but
we
basically
say
if
you
are
an
employer
in
kentucky.
Let
us
know
if
you
have
any
kind
of
job
openings
and
we
will
put
it
on
our
website.
C
We
are
now
about
we're
at
a
20-year
historical
average
of
we
have
as
half
as
many
workers
as
there
are
available
workers
as
there
are
open
jobs,
so
there's
about
two
open
jobs
for
every
one
worker.
Now,
according
to
the
bureau
of
labor
statistics,
so
that's
not
just
the
kentucky
chamber
data
that
is
the
bls
data
as
well.
C
We're
also
seeing
that
employees
that
are
in
the
workforce
are
working
a
lot
more
hours
than
they
were
in
the
last
few
years,
meaning
that
they
may
be
picking
up
extra
shifts
or
working
for
people
who
have
you
know
left
the
workforce
over
the
last
year,
a
topic
of
conversation.
Obviously,
when
we
talk
about
this
is
wages,
we
have
seen
pretty
historic
wage
growth
in
the
last
year,
and
I
think
we
heard
stories
about
you
know
fast.
Food
restaurants,
hiring
at
16
17
an
hour
and
the
wages
are
increasing,
and
that
is
good.
C
We
also
have
to
acknowledge
that
this
is
a
very
complex
and
complicated
issue.
It's
not
just
one
reason
why
this
is
happening.
It's
not
just
the
300.
It's
not
child
care,
it's
not
retirement,
it's
all
of
it
put
together
in
this
kind
of
perfect
storm.
We
know
that
some
people
are
still
concerned
about
the
safety
and
the
health
of
their
workers
or
coming
back
to
work.
There
may
also
be
some
vaccine
hesitancy
and
that's
leading
to
some
of
these
problems.
C
We've
talked
about
child
care,
we
know
the
balance
between
home
and
work
has
been
extraordinary
in
this
last
year.
I
have
a
five-year-old
and
an
eight-year-old,
and
I
often
say
I
feel,
like
I'm
a
pretty
hard
worker.
I've
never
worked
harder
than
I
have
in
the
last
year
and
a
half
trying
to
work
and
run
a
chamber
and
also
homeschool
two
children
at
home,
and
we
have
to
acknowledge
that
is
very
much
part
of
this
issue.
We
also
have
to
acknowledge
that
there
are
retirements
people
have
decided
to
switch
careers.
C
I
don't
know
if
anyone
saw
the
latest
issue
or
a
couple
issues
ago,
maybe
of
business.
First
out
of
louisville,
there
was
a
two-page
spread
of
retirement
in
the
nonprofit
sector
in
just
the
last
year,
so
a
lot
of
people
have
decided
to
go
ahead
and
retire
kind
of
post-pandemic,
and
then
a
lot
of
talk
has
been
about
the
federal
unemployment,
insurance
benefits
of
300.
C
C
We
have
met
with
legislative
leadership
about
this
many
times
we
have
met
with
the
governor's
office
about
this
many
times
we
have
written
letters
and
we
do
want
to
acknowledge
that
it
is
a
multi-faceted
issue
and
the
thing
is:
we've
never
gone
through
this
before
we
don't
know
the
perfect
solution,
because
this
has
never
happened
before
so
it's
really
kind
of
an
all
hands
on
deck
approach.
We
do
believe
that
we
should
phase
out
those
federal
insurance
benefits.
C
Ui
benefits.
We
also
are
in
favor
of
looking
at
incentives.
I
know
the
governor's
mentioned
that
as
well
we're
very
much
in
favor
of
seeing
what
that
is
and
seeing
if
it
could
work-
and
I
know
for
many
of
you
all-
you
know-
we've
talked
about
child
care
and
how
we
need
to
better
fund
and
have
more
accessible
child
care.
So
it
really
is
a
multifaceted
solution
to
this
multifaceted
problem
that
we've
never
faced
before
and
so
just
know
the
business
community
is.
C
Is
there
to
help
you,
as
you
guys
kind
of
figure
out
what
to
do
about
this,
but
but
I
do
think
it's
a
critical,
critical
issue
and
there
is
not
a
day
that
goes
by
that
we
do
not
hear
from
at
least
five
or
ten
businesses
saying
I
can't
find
workers.
What
do
I
do?
I'm
gonna
have
to
shutter
my
doors.
It
really
is
a
very
real
problem
that
we
hear
about
every
single
day
and
with
that
I
think
I'll
turn
it
over
to
my
chairman,
winston
griffin.
O
Thanks
ashley,
hello,
everyone,
my
name
is
winston
griffin,
the
second
mr
griffin,
to
sit
in
this
seat
today,
so
it'll
be
easy.
I'm
from
london
kentucky
I'm
the
chairman
of
the
board
and
chief
executive
officer
of
laurel
grocery
company,
I'm
also
the
current
chairman
of
the
board
of
the
kentucky
chamber
of
commerce.
O
So
laura
grocery
company.
We
are
a
wholesale
grocery
institution,
which
means
we
sell
to
independent
grocery
stores
in
kentucky
and
all
of
the
surrounding
states.
As
such,
we
have,
I
always
tell
people
we
have
three
sets
of
employees.
I
have
a
set
of
truck
drivers,
a
set
of
individuals
who
work
in
the
warehouse
and
a
set
of
people
who
work
in
the
office
doing
clerical
work.
So
we
have
a
diverse
group
of
employees.
I
have
about
250
to
275
employees,
so
the
unemployment
issue
is
very
real.
O
We've
noticed
that
people
are
doing
the
math
and
understanding
that
you
can
make
roughly
the
same
amount
of
money
staying
at
home
as
you
can
going
to
work,
and
there
is
a
very
fine
line
of
what
that
dollar
is,
but
for
an
employer
who
has.
We
have
a
very
rich
benefit
package
at
laurel
grocery
we
have
an
on-site
clinic
where
all
your
health
care
is
is
taken
care
of
for
free.
O
We
have
a
401k
and
all
of
the
standard
benefits
that
you
would
imagine
that
you
could
do.
However,
our
problem
in
our
primary
turnover
is
in
the
young
employees
who
do
the
very
difficult
work
in
the
warehouse
and
they
typically
care
about
the
number.
That's
in
the
bottom
right
corner
of
their
paycheck.
O
The
benefits
do
not
necessarily
entice
them
to
to
work
at
laurel
grocery
they're
young,
which
means
they're
healthy.
So
they
don't
want
health
insurance,
they
are
young
and
they
don't
want
a
401k
because
they
don't
think
past
next
week,
much
less
ten
years
from
now-
and
I
understand
that
so
it's
very
difficult
to
explain
a
lot
of
times.
The
question
came
up
about
the
total
amount
of
pay
and
we
actually
try
to
produce,
what's
called
a
hidden
paycheck,
where
we
detail
all
the
other
benefits
that
the
employees
receive
to
explain.
O
O
So
with
the
kentucky
chamber,
we
are
very
cognizant
of
the
employment
unemployment
benefits
and
we
do
not
get
the
impression
that
they
are
going
to
end
before
the
federal
government
stops
them.
In
september
we
had
a
call
with
the
governor's
office,
several
employers
and
across
the
board
they
all
discussed
the
difficulty
in
finding
employees
at
this
time.
It's
a
very
unique
time
in
our
country
in
our
state,
especially
so
that
is
a
number
that
is
pretty
much
our
number
one
concern
right
now
is
unemployment.
O
The
child
care
issue
has
also
come
up
numerous
times,
and
I
heard
it
spoken
of
with
the
group
before
I
believe
those
two
are
tied
together.
A
lot
of
the
workers
in
child
care
facilities
are
lower
paid
workers
and
they
too
are
caught
in
this
conundrum
of
whether
to
stay
at
home
and
make
roughly
the
same
amount
as
opposed
to
coming
in
and
working.
O
So
until
that
extra
benefit
ends,
I
don't
believe
the
child
care
situation
is
going
to
get
much
better.
Those
workers
have
to
come
to
work
as
well,
so
the
kentucky
chamber
is
cognizant
of
that.
I
also
would
like
to
point
out
one
of
the
initiatives
that
we're
doing
is
the
talent
pipeline
at
the
kentucky
chamber,
where
we
have
connected
employers
with
schools
to
determine
what
type
of
education
is
best
suited
to
bring
workers
into
the
workforce
these
days.
O
So
we
have
input
for
from
employers,
so
we
can
better
educate
children,
and
that
has
been
a
very
successful
program.
So
I
could
talk
on
and
on,
but
I
do
know
we
want
to
have
some
questions
and
so
I'll
stop
for
a
moment
and
and
let
you
ask
questions.
H
Thank
you
and
thank
you
very
much
for
being
here.
I
did
find
another
data
point
that
I'm
assuming
is
from
the
same
survey
for
the
u.s
chamber,
and
it
found
in
its
poll
of
unemployed
americans
that
only
16
say
that
it
is
not
worth
searching
for
a
job
because
of
the
money
they
currently
find
earned
from
unemployment
benefits.
H
Now,
in
contrast
to
the
retail
federation,
that
was
all
unemployed
to
people
and
not
just
people
the
retailers
had
had
con
with,
but
but
that
leaves
us
with
84
percent
of
the
people
who,
even
if
the
pandemic
unemployment
ends,
won't
jump
into
the
workforce
so
and
then
to
follow
up
on
representative
robert's
question,
I
understand
there
are
14
000
people
receiving
unemployment,
who
are
small
business
owners
or
independently
self-employed,
and
so
just
reflecting
on
that
in
that
84
percent
of
the
people
will
not
be
sk,
be
motivated
by
the
fact
that
the
pandemic.
H
Additional
300
ends,
combined
with
senator
thomas's
comments
about
the
economic
impact.
Can
can
you
talk
on
what
might
be
holding
those
84
percent
of
the
people
back
from
joining
the
workforce
again
and
24
said
child
care
23
said
they
like
the
skills
or
experience,
but
are
we?
H
You
know
I've
heard
a
lot
of
comments
about
how
if
the
governor
will
just
end
the
300
payment
that
will
then
have
a
solution
to
these
jobs
that
we
need
to
fill
and
if
it's
only
16
of
the
people,
then
that's
not
going
to
be
a
solution,
that's
satisfactory
and
we
may
be
shooting
ourselves
in
the
foot.
Could
you
comment
on
that?
Please.
C
Absolutely-
and
I
think,
like
I
said
you
know
it's
a
multi-faceted
issue,
and
everyone
has
various
reasons
of
why
they
have
not
rejoined
the
workforce,
and
I
think
one
thing
to
point
out
with
the
u.s
chamber
survey
is
that
it
is
a
national
survey.
So
it's
not
kentucky
specific,
so
I
do
think
it
could
be
different
in
different
parts
of
the
country
versus
here
in
kentucky.
C
But
I
also
think,
like
I
said
about
you,
know:
phasing
out
the
300,
that's
just
part
of
the
solution,
but
if
we
can
get
that
16
back
into
the
workforce,
that's
a
really
large
number
that
would
be
back
and
back
in
the
workforce,
earning
wages
and
contributing
you
know
to
their
employer,
and
so
I
do
think
it's
a
multi-faceted
solution.
It's
child
care.
If
you
mentioned
education,
we've
got
to
do
better
in
our
what
we
call
upskilling
and
training
up
our
workforce.
C
We've
got
to
do
better
in
getting
more
people
with
that
baccalaureate,
entertainment
or
some
sort
of
degree
or
credential
or
certificate.
So
it's
a
lot
of
different
pieces
of
this
puzzle.
It
is
absolutely
not
one
solution.
That's
going
to
solve
this
issue,
but
all
of
it
kind
of
working
together,
so
you
know
16
would
be
great
to
get
back
in
the
workforce
and
if
the
300
is
their
incentive
to
not
get
back
in
the
workforce,
we
need
to
absolutely
look
at
that.
C
H
And
then
could
you
speak
on
the
number
of
small
business
or
self-employed
individuals
receiving
that
money
and
what
a
difference
it
may
make
in
order
for
them
to
maintain
their
businesses
so
about
14
000
people
receiving
unemployment,
who
aren't
going
to
be
searching
for
employment
because
they're,
self-employed
or
small
business
owners.
C
Absolutely
and
two-thirds
of
the
kentucky
chambers
members
are
our
small
businesses
as
well.
I
did
want
to
point
that
out
and
I
do
think
that
no
one
is
is
questioning
any
of
the
help.
I
don't
think
of
the
last
year
and
a
half
whether
it's
the
enhanced
ui
benefits,
whether
it's
extending
extending
those
benefits
to
contractors
that
had
never
before
paid
into
the
system,
whether
it's
the
pp,
ppe
ppp
loans.
C
All
of
that
was
very
much
needed,
but
now
that
we
vaccines
are
available,
positivity
rates
at
two
percent
schools
are
now
going
to
reopen.
You
know
at
full
capacity
workforce
has,
you
know
no
limitations
on
it.
It
really
is
time
to
try
to
phase
back
to
what
we
would
deem
normal,
and
so
I
do
think
we'll
help
small
businesses
the
best
we
can
continue
to
go
forward,
but
part
of
this
you
know
to
get
their
workforce
back
really
does
need
to
be
kind
of
phasing
out
some
of
those
additional
benefits.
E
Thank
you,
so
I've
sat
here
and
done
just
a
little
bit
of
quick
math
and
we're
talking
about
the
fact
that
300
is
keeping
some
folks
from
going
back
to
work.
So
if
we
look
at,
for
instance,
what
rep
hale
talked
about
somebody
who's
offering
sixteen
dollars
an
hour,
so
to
compete
with
that.
If
we
pull
off
that
extra
three
hundred
dollars,
which
is
about
seven
and
a
half
dollars
per
hour-
and
we
know
that
unemployment
pays
about
30
of
what
somebody
was
originally
making.
E
So
if
they're
getting
another
350
which
is
about
what
the
sixteen
dollars
an
hour,
would
would
equal
out
to
be
if
somebody's
getting
350
a
week
in
regular
unemployment,
that
means
they
were
making
1166
dollars
a
week.
So
by
asking
someone
who
was
making
eleven
hundred
and
sixty
six
dollars
a
week
to
go
backwards
on
to
six
hundred
and
fifty
dollars
a
week,
you
know
that's
a
huge
difference.
That's
a
difference
of
over
twenty
one
hundred
dollars
a
month
into
that
household.
E
Like
I
said,
if
that
300
went
away
and
they're
only
making
350
on
regular
ui,
you
know
that's
replacing
their
1166
dollar
a
week
paycheck,
and
so
I
think
that
we
need
to
be
really
cautious
with
creating
career
killers
by
trying
to
force
people
back
into
lesser
jobs,
and
I
know
that
that's
a
little
convoluted
I've
got
my
scratch
pad
here.
If,
after
the
meeting
anybody
wants
to
look
at
my
math,
we
can
talk
about
that.
E
But
so
so
can
you
speak
a
little
bit
as
to
to
what
we're
doing
to
target
that
group
of
people
who
the
10
15
to
15
an
hour
just
is
not
going
to
cut
it
for
their
household.
They
can't
take
that
kind
of
pay
cut
over
a
year
right.
You
know
we're
talking
about
24
000
less
a
year
that
they
would
be
looking
at.
So
what
are
we
doing
for
for
those
folks
and
to
try
to
do
that
and
are
we
also
then
looking
at?
C
Yeah
absolutely-
and
I
I
was
a
political
science-
major,
not
a
math
major,
so
I
tried
to
follow
along
with
that,
but
no,
I
think,
that's
absolutely
accurate.
As
you
know,
there
are
absolutely
the
instances
that
people
may
not
have
that
job
to
go
back
to,
but
that
really
is
the
outlier
right.
Now
we
have
two.
We
have
two
jobs
for
every
one
person
looking
and
it's
not
just
in
retail
restaurant
manufacturing,
it's
in
banking
and
healthcare
and
education.
C
It
really
is
across
almost
every
single
sector
of
the
workforce,
and
so
I
do
think
there
are
available
jobs.
Obviously,
in
this
last
year,
our
economy
shifted
the
way
that
we
live
has
shifted
and
some
of
those
sectors
have
shifted
and
we're
going
to
have
to
kind
of
figure
that
out
as
we
as
we
move
forward.
C
I
think
that'd
be
a
really
creative
solution
to
look
at,
especially
when
we
look
at
how
under-qualified
right
now
our
workforce
is
in
terms
of
the
qualifications
that
we
need
for
the
jobs
available
today
and
in
terms
of
wages
and
benefits.
I
think
winston
kind
of
pointed
it
out
as
well.
I
mean
fast
food
jobs
are
now
paying
15
16
an
hour.
C
We've
heard
of
call
centers
paying
21
22
an
hour
that
you
get
to
work
from
your
home,
and
so
there
has
been,
I
think,
probably
more
time
than
in
recent
history:
significant
wage
growth
which,
which
is
we
want.
We
want
wage
growth,
we
want
good
paying
jobs,
and
so
I
do
think
that
has
alleviated
some
of
the
concern
about
the
lower
wage
jobs
and
again
it's
a
supply
and
demand
issue.
It's
a
competition
issue.
O
You
also
have
what
we
refer
to
as
underemployed
those
individuals
who
could
have
employment
if
they
chose,
however,
they've
chosen
not
to
for
whatever
reason
this
additional
pay
has
increased
the
number
of
underemployed
you,
those
individuals
and
trust
me
in
southeastern
kentucky.
This
happens
where
individuals
choose
not
to
work
because
of
the
government
benefits
that
they're
receiving.
O
It's
going
to
be
very
difficult
to
reverse
that
in
september,
when
those
benefits
are
gone,
those
additional
benefits.
However,
everyone
needs
to
pay
their
rent.
Everyone
needs
to
eat
and
they
are
going
to
get
back
into
the
workforce,
but
hopefully
there
is
a
better
workforce
to
get
back
to
we're,
not
trying
to
decrease
anyone's
possibilities
in
life.
However,
it's
just
a
very
unique
situation
that
we're
in
right
now
and
how
how
many
people
are
choosing
not
to
work,
despite
the
fact
that
there
are
so
many
jobs,
good,
paying
jobs
available.
A
A
Q
I
think
that
representative
roberts
representative
bojanowski
and
my
good
friend
representative
stevenson
have
really
hit
on
the
right
points.
We've
got
to
knowledge
that
over
14
000
of
people
who
are
receiving
this
pandemic
unemployment
are
business
owners.
You
know
that
not
workers,
business
owners
and
the
fact
that,
as
as
representative
stevenson
points
out,
you
know,
given
the
current
these
payments,
which
mr
griffin,
I
appreciate
him,
acknowledging
people
need
to
eat
and
to
live
and
and
to
have
clothes.
Q
You
know
that
that
money
helps
them
do
that
as
opposed
to
having
to
work
for
lower
paying
wages.
So
so
my
question
to
both
of
you
is
this:
as
you
know,
miss
watts.
Q
I've
been
a
staunch
advocate
since
I've
gotten
to
the
legislature
of
increasing
the
minimum
wage
and
going
back
to
the
earlier
testimony
day
of
mr
todd
griffin,
mr
kevin
cranley,
about
how
about
now
how
employers
are
asking
or
or
requesting,
15
to
16
an
hour
and,
as
you
indicated
earlier,
what
you've
seen
from
the
chamber
is
people
asking
fifteen
sixteen
dollars
an
hour?
Is
their
chamber
nano?
Q
C
Not
in
this
moment,
because
I
haven't
seen
the
legislation,
but
I
do
think
in
like
in
years
past,
we're
very
willing
to
be
part
of
the
conversation,
especially
within
when
it's
in
incremental
steps.
We
are
very
willing
to
have
that
conversation
and
see
if
it's
something
that
we'd
be
agreeable
to.
Okay,.
Q
Well
that
that's
a
step
forward.
My
final
question
is
this:
mr
chair,
you
know
we
we
talk,
we
talk
about
this
labor
shortage,
but
but
my
position
has
been
you
know
for
the
last
year
that
we
don't
have
a
labor
shortage
here
in
this
country.
We
have
a
wage
shortage.
Okay,
I
will
tell
you
that
that
my
lifestyle
is
such
now
that
I
travel
a
lot
from
kentucky
to
georgia
to
south
carolina.
Okay
and
everywhere
I
go
among
those
states
and
through
those
states
I
see
the
same
size
everywhere
now
hiring
jobs
available.
Q
You
know,
people
want
it.
Okay,
and
this
is
every
this-
is
everywhere
in
those
states,
lexington
atlanta
charleston,
you
name
it
okay,
and
so
what
we've
got
to
do?
I
submit
to
you
miss
watts
and
your
position.
It
really
is
a
step
forward
from
what
I've
seen
in
the
chamber
in
the
past
is
that
we've
got
to
pay
people
more.
You
know
we
want.
We
want
to
incentivize
some
people
to
come
to
work.
The
biggest
incentive,
as
mr
griffin
noted,
was
what
people
see
in
that
far
corner
or
their
paycheck.
O
M
O
It's
if
I
start
my
lowest
level
of
worker,
where
there's
no
necessary
education
or
experience
required
at
fifteen
dollars
an
hour.
Well,
that's
very
close
to
what
his
supervisor
would
now
be
earning,
so
that
directly
affects
that
next
position
and
and
on
on
on
on
up
so
I'm
in
the
food
business,
which
is
which
is
a
very
competitive
business.
Our
gross
profit
is,
is
nine,
so
that's
where
I'm
starting
it's
very
difficult
to
have
a
large
increase
in
wages
and
be
able
to
stay
in
business.
I
I
too
am
a
working
mother.
I
have
one
going
into
high
school
one
in
elementary
school
and
one
in
daycare,
so
I
actually
pay
child
care
costs
so
and
during
this
pandemic,
my
my
child
care
provider
closed
and
until
miss
linda
could
get
her
vaccination.
I
We
were
not
reopened
and
we
were
willing
to
wait
on
ms
linda,
because,
because
it
was
a
wonderful,
it's
a
wonderful
place
to
send
your
children.
But
one
of
my
questions
is
you
know,
I
hear
you
talking
about
your
wages
and
providing
benefits,
and
I
have
never
been
fortunate
enough
to
have
this
type
of
benefit.
So
I'm
not
sure
if
you
can
expand
on
this,
but
I
see
some
of
the
mothers
at
daycare
who
are
able
to
use
things
such
as
flex
spending
accounts
to
pay
toward
child
care.
I
C
Accounts
such
as
the
flexible
space
yeah,
and
I
can't
speak
for
every
business
of
what
they're
offering
throughout
kentucky,
but
I
definitely
know
their
portfolio
has
increased.
I
do
want
to
point
out.
This
is
a
really
important
topic.
In
the
last
year
three
times
the
number
of
women
have
left
the
workforce
versus
men.
C
So
if
you
are
a
family
that
I
think
makes
150
000
or
less
or
less
a
year,
you
will
be
eligible
for
300
per
child
per
month,
and
so
we
talk
about
various
solutions
to
get
people
back
to
work.
I
do
believe
that
could
probably
help
some
of
the
working
parents
that
have
had
to
stay
at
home,
but
definitely
expanded
benefits
when
it
comes
to
child
care.
Flexibility,
flexible
spending.
C
We
have
highly
encouraged
all
of
that
in
the
last
year,
even
just
being
able
to
work
remotely
when
your
kids
are
at
home
and
maybe
do
some
of
the
office
work
at
night.
We
have
basically
encouraged
employers
in
this
kind
of
survival
mode
that
we've
been
in
to
be
as
innovative
and
flexible
as
possible,
with
their
workforce
and
they've
really
done
that
so.
G
You
chairman
pratt,
I
just
want
to
make
note
that
in
kentucky
average
rent
is
773
a
month
and
you
know
we're
looking
at
1200
a
month
in
the
extra
benefit.
G
When
you
look
at
the
total
package
and
something
I
think
that
we
are
not
looking
at
totally
is
that
a
lot
of
people
don't
just
qualify
for
this
benefit.
They
qualify
for
food
stamps,
they
qualify
for
free
child
care.
So
when
you
look
at
all
the
package
incentives
that
they
get
to
be
government
incentivized
to
stay
home,
I
think-
and
it's
my
personal
opinion.
We
have
a
broken
system
that
we
need
to
look
at
and
revamp
the
system,
because
many
people
engage
into
that
system
and
they
know
the
ins
and
outs
of
the
system.
G
So,
as
legislators,
we
need
to
take
a
deep
look
on
on
how
we
need
to
fix
this
system,
because
there
are
some
people
that
are
thriving
during
this,
while
other
people
are
still
struggling
and
on
another
note
and
correct
me
if
I'm
wrong,
but
a
recent
study
that
I
looked
at,
that
kentucky
is
dead
last
in
economic
recovery
across
the
united
states.
So
those
are
some
things
that
I
have
observed
with
employees
that
I
have
that
qualify
for
various
different
benefits
that
we're
not
talking
about
today.
G
M
Thank
you,
mr
chairman,
and
I
don't
necessarily
have
a
question
more
of
a
comment,
and
my
comment
is
as
someone
that's
a
small
small
business
owner
and
you
know
who's
knows
what
it
was
like
to
risk
everything
that
you
have
to
to
develop
a
business
and
create
jobs.
And-
and
I
know
what
it's
like
to
lay
awake
at
night
and
wake
up
at
three
o'clock
in
the
morning-
worrying
about
whether
you're
gonna
make
the
payroll
or
the
payment
to
the
bank
or
whatever.
M
And
you
know.
I
think
that
all
of
us
want
to
make
sure
that
we're
paying
providing
benefits
and
paying
wages
that
that,
because
employees
are
really
family,
especially
in
small
businesses,
and
but
I
think
that
oftentimes
people
who
maybe
have
never
had
to
provide
a
service
or
product
or
whatever
and
work
to
to
do
that
and
market
it
or
whatever.
M
Don't
necessarily
understand
that
you
know
when
you're
paying
someone
that
person
has
to
be
able
to
produce
enough
product
or
enough
services
that
you
can
pay
them
whatever
you're
paying
them
and
then
have
a
little
bit
of
markup,
that
you
can
pay
the
rent
in
the
bank
and
and
and
the
mortgage
and
everything
else
and
and
some
people.
Unfortunately,
don't
even
understand
that
you
know
it's
like
well.
M
You
know
I
want
to
start
in
a
management
position
or
I
think
you
need
to
pay
me
this
wage
or
that
wage,
and
so
I
mean
to
make
statements
that
you
know
you
know
we
have
a
wage
crisis
or
whatever
you
know.
If
I
think
we
have
a
crisis
when
some
folks
don't
understand
that.
M
But
but
I
do
agree
with
you
with
your
comments
that
everyone
out
there
can
benefit
themselves
and
and
their
marketable
skills
as
far
as
getting
a
better
job
if
they
are
reinvesting
in
and
going
back
to
school
and
attaining
education,
and
I
think
that's
key-
and
you
know
we
no
longer
live
in
the
economy
after
the
the
second
world
war,
where
a
business
would
hire
you
with
no
tra.
M
You
know
no
training,
no
skills,
they
would
train
you
and
you
could
work
there
for
45
years
and
then
probably
your
son
or
daughter
could
go
to
work
there
too,
and
they
would
train
them
and
and
now
we
we
have
to
be
training
ourselves,
a
lot
more
because
we're
probably
going
to
be
having
because
we're
not
going
to
get
that
job,
that
we
can
stand
for
40
years,
we're
going
to
have
to
be
changing
jobs.
E
M
A
Thank
you
guys
for
your
testimony
today.
A
couple
of
things
I
think
you
all
mentioned
that
was
really
important
and
that's
workforce
participation
at
56
percent.
That
means
we're
getting
very,
very,
very
close
for
everybody's
working.
We
have
someone
not
working
now.
You
also
mentioned
90
000
jobs,
guys
that's
significant
and
I
can
tell
you
pratt's
line
landscape
is
looking
for
helpers,
we're
not
part
of
that
90
000..
You
know
I
would
you
know.
A
A
I
would
question
your
math
ma'am
on
that,
because
evidently
he's
done
his,
but
he
said
22
bucks
an
hour
again
we'll
see
if
that
number
is
correct
or
not,
but
I
will
tell
you
this.
I
drove
by
a
tractor
trailer
parked
down
the
road
and
way
here
that
said,
is
80
in
georgetown
18
an
hour
starting
wage,
and
so
I'm
telling
you
the
jobs,
are
out
there
and
for
everyone's
arguing
about
the
15
hour
minimum
wage.
A
Evidently
you
did
not
study
economics
and
understand
that
if
you
do
this
you're
going
to
drive
inflation
through
the
roof,
it
all
comes
down
to
a
sliding
scale.
You
want
inflation,
then,
and
it's
already
here
that
will
drive
it
through
the
roof.
So
thank
you
guys
for
your
testimony.
Next
presenter,
please
approach
the
bench.
O
O
R
P
Please
proceed.
Thank
you,
mr
chairman,
for
the
invitation
to
come,
speak
to
you
today
and
and
thanks
to
the
members
of
the
committee,
I'm
chad
harpel
with
century
aluminum.
I
want
to
give
you
a
brief
overview
for
those
of
you
that
aren't
familiar
with
our
company.
We
are
a
primary
aluminum
smelters,
so
we
literally
make
the
raw
commodity
from
bauxite.
P
We
have
three
smelters
in
north
america,
three
of
the
six
remaining
aluminum
smelters,
two
in
kentucky.
One
of
them
is
in
hallsville,
just
east
of
owensboro.
The
other
one
is
in
seabree
just
south
of
henderson
right
on
representative
gucci's
district.
Senator
mills
so
happy
to
see
you
all.
Our
hallsville
smelter
is
the
last
smelter
in
a
nato
country
that
makes
military-grade
aluminum.
P
We
have
dozens
upon
dozens
of
small
businesses
that
rely
on
our
business
running
every
day
through
the
use
of
contractors,
electricians
truck
drivers,
etc
that
are
in
and
out
of
that
plant
or
both
of
our
plants
every
single
day
we
are
a
little
bit
different
in
the
sense
that
we
are
commodity,
traded
business.
So
we
don't
get.
We
don't
get
to
decide
what
we
sell.
Our
aluminum
for
the
london
metal
metal
exchange
decides
what
the
price
of
aluminum
is.
P
P
Each
smelter
in
western
kentucky
uses
more
power
per
day
than
the
city
of
lexington,
so
just
massive
amounts
of
electricity
through
those
plants
and
then
the
second
second
component
is
obviously
our
labor
cost.
So
with
that,
I'm
going
to
turn
it
over
to
karen
to
talk
a
little
bit
of
the
issues.
We've
been
very
fortunate,
the
last
few
years
to
grow
both
of
our
smelters
in
in
kentucky
and
our
plant
in
south
carolina
that
that
is
a
very
good
thing
for
for
our
business
and
a
very
good
thing
for
the
commonwealth.
J
Hi
as
he
as
I
said,
I'm
karen
cecil,
I'm
the
hr
director
for
the
north
america
group,
so
I
travel
between
the
three
plants,
the
two
in
kentucky
and
the
one
in
south
carolina.
We
do
face
very
similar
problems
with
workforce
in
kentucky,
as
well
as
south
carolina,
a
little
very
similar
to
what
we've
heard
for
retail
today,
but
yet
somewhat
different.
J
J
The
problem
we're
having
today
is
is
hiring
people.
We
have
we're
under
a
new
regime,
and
kenneth
will
talk
a
little
bit
about
that
in
a
minute.
But
we've
been
adding
people
just
this
year,
we've
probably
hired
already
60.
I'm
still
looking
at
for
about
40
in
both
of
the
kentucky
plants,
and
we
cannot
find
the
people
they'll
schedule
an
appointment
to
come
for
an
interview
and
they
won't
show
up,
but
some
of
the
problems
we're
facing
that
haven't
even
been
talked
about
yet
today.
J
The
drug
issue
is
a
big
issue
that
we
face
every
day
out
of
10.
Applicants
that
come
in,
we
send
them
back
to
have
a
drug
screen
and
about
three
or
four
out
of
every
10
cannot
pass
the
drug
test.
Even
we
tell
them
before
they
come.
They
have
to
take
the
drug
test.
They
are
bringing
fake
urine
taping
that
to
the
sides
inside
parts
of
their
bodies
and
legs
to
the
point
we've
had
to
have
them
start
to
strip
down
and
wear
a
gown
to
be
drug
tested.
J
So
drug
drug
testing
is
a
major
issue
for
us.
Another
big
issue
that
we're
facing
is
with
crafts,
maintenance,
mechanical
and
electrical
electrical
being
worse
than
mechanical,
but
we
start
them
out
at
30
an
hour
and
they
grow.
You
know
as
they
bid
in
different
jobs.
They
make
more
money,
but
there
just
are
not
enough.
Electricians
to
be
had,
we
are
starting
to
participate
in
the
kentucky
fame
with
the
technical
school
systems,
which
has
been
a
challenge
for
us
with
the
union
environment,
but
because
we
need
those
so
bad.
J
The
union
has
begun
to
partner
with
us
and
so
we're
going
to
start
four
people
at
each
of
the
plants
in
that
gulf
fame
program
this
year,
this
school
semester,
we
do
believe
the
enhanced
employment
benefits,
hurt
us
a
little
bit,
but
it's
not
just
that.
The
stimulus
money
that
can
have
come
from
a
federal
level
have
also
we
had
two
employees
quit
in
the
last
two
months
that
when
we
did
an
exit
interview,
they
told
us
I've
got
enough
money
to
be
off
the
summer.
J
I
might
come
back
and
see
you
when
fall
hits,
because
they
got
enough
stimulus,
money
and
unemployment
that
they
don't
have
to
work.
That's
that's
a
fact.
Two
two
employees
very
much
did
that
the
food
supplement
money
that
they've
received
from
children
being
out
of
school.
They
are
some
of
our
employees,
have
four
or
five
kids,
so
that
adds
up
and
puts
extra
money
in
their
pocketbooks.
J
Another
issue
that
we
face
greatly
is
the
fmla
benefits.
Intermittent
is
the
worst
for
us
as
an
employer.
We
run
24
hours
a
day
365
days
a
year.
We
can't
close.
So
if
something
happened,
if
we
lost
power
or
we
didn't
have
enough
employees
to
rent
a
line
and
we
had
to
shut
that
line
down,
it
would
very
be
very
unlikely
that
we
would
start
it
up
because
it's
millions
of
dollars
to
start
a
lineup.
J
So
we
have
to
be
very
strategic
and
when
employees
take
intermittent
fmla,
we
can't
plan
for
that
because
we
don't
know
when
they're
going
to
take
it.
So
that's
another
issue
that
we
face
that
we
would
seek
some
help
on,
of
course,
some
of
our
employees.
We
have.
We
have
a
couple
of
two
different
generations.
J
Some
of
our
employees
have
been
with
us
40
years
we
lose
50
percent.
Now,
in
two
months
they
start
two
months
later,
they'll
either
not
show
up
or
just
say
they
can't
handle
the
work
we
have
actually.
R
So
to
carry
on
with
karen
and
what
she
had
stated,
you
know
we're
no
stranger
to
a
lot
of
you
folks
here
in
frankfort,
and
we
appreciate
the
support
you
know
as
being
the
largest
aluminum
producer
in
the
u.s,
as
well
as
the
I
think,
the
only
state
in
the
union
with
two
smelters.
We
appreciate
the
support
you
guys
have
provided
through
the
years,
both
our
employees
as
an
employer,
as
well
as
the
national
and
strategic
relationships
that
we
have.
R
We've
undergone
a
great
deal
of
change
over
the
last
few
few
months,
and
then
I
was
just
going
to
discuss
that
just
briefly
here.
Our
current
chief
operating
officer
jesse
gary,
who
some
of
you
may
have
known,
who
was
largely
instrumental
in
the
section
232
initiatives
with
the
two
previous
presidential
administrations
will
be
taking
over
as
our
ceo
on
july,
the
first
he
has
a
lot
of
new
great
ideas
for
the
company
looking
to
grow
the
company,
both
here
in
kentucky
and
south
carolina.
R
Just
last
month,
john
deze,
who
spent
many
many
many
months
in
in
these
halls
roaming.
These
halls
back
in
2015,
has
taken
over
as
general
counsel.
He
worked
a
lot
with
you
guys
on
our
power
initiatives.
R
Our
kentucky
plants
have
struggled
a
bit
over
the
course
of
the
last
few
years.
We
have
recently
in
february
brought
an
icelander.
So
if
you
any
of
you
guys
in
davis,
county
henderson
county
see
an
icelander
wandering
around
and
pointing
out
our
direction.
His
name
is
gunnar
goodluckson
and
he
has
been
operating
a
world-class
smelter
in
iceland
for
the
last
nearly
decade,
and
he
has
made
some
significant
improvements
to
to
our
kentucky
and
south
carolina
smelters
over
the
course.
R
The
last
few
months,
we've
recently
also
brought
on
a
gentleman
by
the
name
of
matt
abood,
who
came
from
norse
kidro
and
he's
going
to
be
overseeing
our
sustainability
and
our
green
aluminum
initiatives.
That
will
be
that
we'll
be
working
toward
over
the
course
of
the
next
few
years,
which
will
play
a
primary
role
in
the
future
of
this
organization
and
as
chad
was
talking
about
the
commodity
price
of
aluminum,
the
lme
that
has
increased
substantially
over
the
course
of
the
last
few
months,
as
well
as
the
midwest
premium.
R
So
those
dollars
that
we
get
for
delivering
here
in
the
midwest
those
dollars
have
increased,
we're
restarting
capacity
in
south
carolina,
we're
committed
to
restarting
each
sale.
That's
been
out
at
hawseville.
We
want
to
restart
that
at
some
point,
as
well
as
make
improvements
at
seabree.
So
we
feel
like
we
have
all
of
the
pieces
of
the
puzzle.
R
There
we're
just
missing
kind
of
one
ingredient,
and
that
really
is
our
employees,
and
so
we
we
need
additional
workers
to
be
able
to
man
these
jobs
as
chad
was
was
stating
you
know.
Our
median
employee
made
a
hundred
and
seven
thousand
dollars
last
year,
including
compensation
and
benefits,
so
we're
a
good
paying
employer.
R
As
the
committee's
aware,
and
as
that
eighth
generation
ohio
county-
and
you
know,
we
know
that
that
kentuckians
can
stack
up
against
any
other
worker
in
the
u.s.
No
one
works
in
any
harder
than
the
kentuckian.
No
one
takes
more
pride
in
their
work,
but
I
think
we've
done
them
somewhat
of
a
disservice,
with
with
some
of
the
incentives
that
we
provided
them
to
be
able
to
to
be
able
to
choose,
to
not
work.
R
To
be
honest
and
when
everyone
here
is
familiar
with
the
time
value
of
money,
you
know,
and
if
we
take
any
of
you
folks
here
and
and
force
you
to
retire
a
year
and
a
half
early,
you
guys
may
not
be
ready
for
that
same
way
with
our
employers.
We've
taken
employees,
we've
taken
some
of
them
out
of
the
workforce
for
18
months,
so
we've
taken
18
months
of
pension
away
from
them.
We've
taken
18
months
of
401k
away
from
them,
because
they're
not
able
to
save
for
their
retirement.
R
So
that's
putting
them
an
automatic
18
months
behind
and
realize
that
some
of
these
programs
were
put
in
place
for
the
pandemic
and
those
things
are
necessary
to
do
that.
But
but
we
just
ask
for
your
help
going
forward
to
to
be
able
to
to
entice
those
employees
to
come
back
into
the
facilities,
whether
it's
through
the
reduction
in
in
the
benefits
through
drug
legislation,
to
make
sure
that
you
know
we're
able
to
control
those
types
of
situations.
So
with
that,
in
my
comments.
P
P
You
know
the
stress
that
it's
putting
on
the
current
employees
that
are
there
they're
having
to
work
mandatory
overtime
and
having
to
work
weekends
and
and
having
to
fill
extra
hours,
is
kind
of
the
unspoken
heroes
through
all
of
this
they're,
the
ones
still
showing
up
to
work
and
spending
time
away
from
their
families.
P
As
karen
mentioned,
you
know,
we
were
declared
an
essential
business
by
the
governor
and
the
president
early
on,
because
aluminum
smelter,
you
just
don't
hit,
stop
and
the
assembly
line
stops,
and
you
come
back
two
months
later
and
pick
up
where
you
left
off.
We
are
365
day
business
and,
as
karen
said,
if
one
of
our
sales,
if
power
goes
down
for
six
hours
or
something
happens
to
our
plant
you're,
looking
at
50
to
100
million
dollars
to
restart
a
plant
and
that's
just
not
economically
feasible,
so
I'll.
P
Let
karen
talk
a
little
bit
about
what
she's
hearing
on
the
floor
from
from
the
fatigue
and
stress
factor
and
then
we'll
be
happy
to
answer
any
questions,
except
from
the
gentleman
from
breckenridge
10.
J
So
so
the
not
being
able
to
hire
as
quickly
as
we
need
to-
and
it's
it's
a
bigger
component,
because
it
does
take
some
time
to
train
those
employees
for
safety
purposes
and
the
different
types
of
work
that
we
have.
So
even
if
we
brought
in
50
tomorrow,
it's
going
to
be
four
to
six
weeks
before
they
could
really
hit
the
floor
and
operate
properly
so
the
current
workforce.
J
Some
of
them
are
being
forced
to
work
seven
16
days
in
a
row
again
part
of
that's
from
a
union
environment,
but
the
junior
man
gets
the
force
over
and
over
and
over,
but
they
are,
they
are
becoming
very
fatigued.
They
call
off.
Work
causes
another
person
to
have
to
stay
over
and
work,
so
ours
is
not
all
about
the
money.
Our
people
are
making
good
money
good
benefits.
They
have
three
to
six
weeks
of
vacation.
We
have
12
holidays
a
year.
J
So
it's
not
it's
not
that
we're
not
offering
a
good
service
to
our
employees,
but
our
work
is
physical.
It's
very
taxing!
It's
hot!
I
mean
I
have
to
admit.
I
sit
on
a
boat
over
the
weekend
at
the
lake
for
one
hour
and
couldn't
stand
it,
but
our
employees
are
manually
working
in
heat
hotter
than
that.
I
mean
you
can't.
I
can't
even
describe
to
you
how
hot
it
is,
so
they
have
to
stay
physically
fit
watch
their
intake,
water
intake,
food
intake,
but
but
we're
struggling
finding
employees.
H
Thank
you
and
I'm
sorry
that
I
had
not
heard
of
your
company
before
it's
a
very
important
part
of
kentucky's
business
structure.
I
believe
so
thinking
about
some
of
the
discussion
about
redistricting
is
that
our
state
has
had
a
shift
of
people
away
from
the
rural
areas
is.
Is
that
impacting
you
know
the
number
of
people
who
might
be
available
to
work
and
kind
of?
Second
to
that
is?
J
We
have
tried
to
bring
in
some
from
out
of
state
because
as
smelters
closed
down,
we
try
to
partner
with
those
other
smelters
who
have
closed
in
recruiting
those
employees
to
come
work
for
us.
So
we
do
that.
Every
chance
we
get
because
again,
aluminum
is
more
of
a
dying
breed.
So
we
want
that
experience
and
we'll
hire
from
those,
no
matter
where
they
come
from.
First
up.
D
R
A
Thank
you
all
right
again
in
second
time,
I'm
gonna
tell
you
everybody's
on
the
in
the
queue
right
now
we'll
get
to
ask
a
question
after
that
sorry
you're
out
of
luck.
Next
we
have
representative
timoney
to
follow.
L
Thank
you,
mr
chairman,
to
follow
up
with
that
question.
Have
you
thought
about
moving
your
south
carolina
facility
to
kentucky.
P
L
R
L
L
Well
that
that
ultimately
was
the
purpose
of
my
question
and
I
do
appreciate
the
perspective
because
definitely
it's
industry.
When
you
talk
about
median
income,
I
mean
that's
phenomenal
because
you
know
ultimately
people
talk
about
the
bottom
line.
That's
the
bottom
line.
It
is
really
hard
work.
I
have
heard
about
your
company
before
and
I
really
appreciate
the
work
that
you
lucky,
but
I
just.
J
We
do
chuckle
at
what
you
said,
but
when
we
were
struggling
with
the
power
contract
for
the
last
couple
of
years
at
our
south
carolina
plant,
we
did
consider
the
fact
of
moving
that
business
up
here
and
expanding
the
two
kentucky
facilities
that
had
been
laid
out
and
talked
about.
But
it
is
very
difficult
to
do
that
with
environmental
issues
and
okay.
P
I
will
say
it's
something:
our
company
constantly
looks
at
and
representative
gooch
and
senator
mills
and
folks
in
the
economic
development
cabinet
constantly
ask
us
about.
There
is
actually
a
footprint
at
our
seabreeze
facility
that
we
could
add
on
to
seabree
if
the
economic
forces
allow
and
if
we
see
the
stability
through
the
upcoming
years
through
tariffs
and
everything
else,
and
we
control
the
china
situation,
which
is
really
that
is
the
number
one
impact
on
outside
impact.
I
think
on
our
business.
P
Then
I
think
it's
something
that
we
would
look
at,
but
we
have
made
well
over
200
million
dollars
of
investment
in
our
two
kentucky
facilities,
just
within
probably
the
last
three
to
four
years
and
a
little
quick
fact
about
seabree.
I
talked
a
little
bit
about
hawsville,
but
if
you
have
a
vehicle
in
the
parking
garage
that
was
assembled
in
north
america
and
you
pop
the
hood
and
see
all
of
your
hvac
lines
in
that
vehicle,
that
was
assembled
in
north
america.
It's
got
aluminum
from
seabree
in
it.
A
J
J
We
have
to
it's
a
very
safety,
we're
very
safety
conscious
and
we,
as
I'm
sure
some
of
you
heard,
we
had
a
fatality
at
the
seabree
plant
last
year
and
even
though
we
do
random
drug
testing
and
and
new
hire
drug
testing,
we
did
find
drugs
in
that
employee
system,
which
it's
just
it's
a
very
safe
big
safety
concern
that
we
have,
but
I
do
think
we're
going
to
have
to
open
up
to
to
more
things
than
we
have
in
the
past,
we've
reduced
the
we
had
a
felony
restriction
and
we've
reduced
that
from
seven
to
five
we're
talking
about
reducing
that
even
further,
and
I
would
tell
you
yes,
I
would
entertain
working
with
someone
on
that.
I
There's
a
lot
of
federal
and
state
money
being
spent
on
drug
rehab.
So
if,
if
the
programs
are
good,
if
they're
successful,
it
all
depends
on
the
individual,
how
motivated
they
are.
M
I
Maybe
a
second
chance
with
some
of
these
people
would
be
a
good
resource
so
and
then,
of
course,
in
eastern
kentucky,
we've
had
all
the
you
know
with
the
war
on
coal,
the
laid
off
minors
and
so
forth.
So
if
those
people
could
go
underground
and
work
hard
physical
labor,
our
workforce
has
been
bleeding
out
people
leaving,
but
they
would
love
to
come
back
home.
Literally,
a
lot
of
them
have
left
to
go
to
the
plants
in
georgetown,
buffalo,
west
virginia
et
cetera.
I
I
do
appreciate
you
all
coming
today
and
they're
in
my
district,
so
you
guys
have
a
great
impact
in
our
community
there
in
hawsville
and
hancock
county
and
as
well
as
breaking
ridge
over
into
ohio
county-
probably
probably
about
five
districts
in
here,
just
in
that
plan
alone,
that
you
guys
help
support
families
there.
So
we
appreciate
what
you
do.
I
also
appreciate
you
highlighting
the
issue
with
the
drug
issue.
A
lot
of
people
don't
realize
how
much
that
affects
rural
kentucky,
especially
when
it
comes
to
manufacturing
and
the
safety
issue.
I
That
is
there
and
there
was
some
great
legislation
passed
last
year
and
I
think
that
there
will
be
more
coming
this
year
as
we
wore
this
problem,
and
hopefully
we
can
partner
with
some
things
that
you
guys
that
would
help
you
guys
do
what
you're
trying
to
do
and
move
forward
with
your
business
and
then
my
last
question
would
be
actually.
My
only
question
would
be
mr
callaway
as
to
who
he
thought
was
his
best
brother
growing
up.
So
I
thought
I'd
throw
that
out
there
so.
R
A
Thank
you
and
again,
thank
you
guys
for
your
testimony.
One
thing
that
you
out
one
of
the
questions
mr
mccormick
was
about
random
drug
testing
and
pre-dug
testing.
I'll.
Tell
you
my
company:
does
it
the
reason
we
do
it
for
well
two
reasons.
One
is
because
we
get
much
a
big
discount
on
our
unemployment
insurance.
Make
no
doubt
about
it's
a
big
deal.
Second
thing
is
you
don't
do
random
and
somebody
gets
hurt
on
the
job
site
and
that
person
next
to
them
turns
up
dirty.
A
So
but
again,
if
you
don't
do
that,
I'm
telling
you
you
just
go
ahead
and
decide
who
you
want
to
give
your
company
to
because
you're
going
to
get
sued.
So
thank
you
guys
for
your
testimony.
Amazing
107
000
a
year
job
and
you
can't
find
employees
so
with
great
benefits.
So
thank
you
guys
very
much
for
your
testimony.
I
F
Good
afternoon
my
name
is
joe
horvath,
I'm
a
senior
fellow
with
the
foundation
for
government
accountability
co-chairs
pratt
king
coach
schroeder.
F
Thank
you
for
allowing
me
to
peer
before
your
committee
and
address
the
nationwide
issue
of
labor
shortages
and
federal
unemployment
benefits.
As
I
just
said,
my
name
is
joe
horvath.
I'm
a
senior
fellow
with
fga
fja
is
a
non-partisan
nonprofit,
501c3
organization,
with
on-the-ground
liaisons
in
32
states
and
a
national
network
of
hundreds
of
policy
champions.
F
We
are
promoting
policy
reform
in
every
state
and
washington
dc
j,
promotes
welfare,
workforce
and
healthcare
reforms
to
transform
lives
through
work.
We
believe
that
america
works
when
america
is
working
over
the
last
18
months.
I
have
been
to
a
lot
of
states
to
talk
about
unemployment
policy
and
seeing
how
they
responded
to
covid,
how
they
handled
the
increase
in
fraud
and
now
how
they're
choosing
to
manage
their
reopening.
F
F
26
states
have
already
recognized
the
problem
and
took
action,
and
they
all
approached
their
decision
from
different
sets
of
circumstances.
Louisiana.
The
latest
state
to
announce
has
a
democrat
governor
and
an
unemployment
rate,
50
percent
higher
than
kentucky
nor
south
dakota
never
shut
down
for
covid
and
has
rejected
a
previous
unemployment
benefit
boost
offered
after
cares
initially
expired.
F
F
F
F
On
top
of
that
letters
urging
an
opt
out
were
sent
to
the
governor
on
behalf
of
nfib,
the
chamber
of
commerce,
the
retail
association,
the
restaurant
association
grocers
women's
businesses,
manufacturers.
The
list
goes
on
and
on
even
the
funeral
directors
association
joined
in
and
if
they
can't
tolerate
dead,
slow
business,
nobody
can.
F
F
F
F
F
None
of
those
reasons
remain
the
case.
Kentucky
is
fairly
far
along
and
it's
fairly
far
along
in
its
reopening
process.
Businesses
have
adjusted
to
operate
safely
and
are
open
work.
Search
requirements
are
back
in
place,
normal
is
speeding
back,
26
states
have
announced
they
will
opt
out
early
and
quinnipiac
polling
shows.
Most
americans
agree
with
that
decision.
F
F
Job
openings
decreased
sharply,
the
rate
of
job
openings
decreased
sharply
as
people
started,
taking
those
jobs
in
the
first
full
month
in
which
the
300
bonus
came
back
among
and
came
back,
the
amount
of
open,
unfillable
jobs
increased
sharply
further.
The
very
fact
that
a
bonus
creates
disincentive
to
work
disincentive
to
seek
and
accept
suitable
work
is
implicit
in
the
fact
that
congress
itself
chose
to
reduce
the
unemployment
bonus
from
600
to
300
when
it
passed
the
american
rescue
plan
act.
F
Even
president
biden
doesn't
seem
to
want
to
extend
it
past
september,
so
they
say:
there's
nothing
new
under
the
sun
and
they're
right.
All
the
things
kentucky
employers
have
been
communicating
to
this
legislature
and
the
governor
are
the
same
thing
that
their
counterparts
in
other
states
are
saying.
F
A
Thank
you
for
there's
handouts
in
your
packet
here.
Actually
I
just
looked
at
them,
so
myself,
sorry
about
that,
but
any
questions
for
the
presenter
it's
late
in
the
day,
so
that
we
actually
have
none.
So
thank
you
very
much,
sir
appreciate
your
hand.
Also.
I
want
a
couple
things.
I
want
to
touch
base
real
fast.
Thank
you
guys
for
attending
today.
You
know
and
we
talked
about
the
unemployment,
and
I
want
to
applaud
the
governor
in
the
fact
that
he
said
he's
going
to
give
an
incentive
to
have
people
return
back
to
work.
A
You
get
125
a
week.
If
you
return
to
work
extra
or
you
get
300
to
stay
home
a
week,
guess
what
ui
loses
they're
going
to
stay
home.
I
would
encourage
him
to
look
at
arizona's
example
where
they
stopped
the
300
up
to
2000.
If
you
work
for
10
weeks,
this
is
a
better
plan.
This
will
get
people
back
to
work
and
unless
the
governor
comes
out
and
says
we're
going
to
incentivize
people,
3
600
for
the
next
12
weeks
to
come
off
unemployment,
there's
no
incentive,
it's
just
do
the
math
guys
we
have
to.
A
We
have
to
get
people
back
to
work,
and
I
think
that
that
just
to
offer
them
a
thousand
dollars
or
whatever
those
two
examples
that
will
not
get
anything
other
than
it
sounds
good
and
it
sounds
like
he's
done
something
so
again,
I
would
encourage
him
and
his
advisors
take
a
hard
look.
Let's
actually
get
kentuckians
back
to
work.
Thank
you
all
very
much
next
thing.
We
are
adjourned.