Hart: ‘There is a bias against employers’

As the House reconsiders SB 1369, the unemployment fraud bill, Rep. Janice McGeachin, R-Idaho Falls, said as an employer, she’d “think twice” about hiring another employee because of the bill. “I guarantee you I will think twice about that,” she told the House.

Rep. Phil Hart, R-Athol, said he’s been an employer for 25 years. “Every conflict I’ve had with the Department of Labor in this or other states, I’ve lost, even though I think the facts are on my side,” he said. “There is a bias against employers.”

Rep. Stephen Hartgen, R-Twin Falls, moved to send the bill to general orders for amendment, but amid debate on that motion, Rep. Julie Ellsworth, R-Boise, raised a point of order: A motion to do that already was defeated. The House is now at ease to sort the matter out.