By Beacon Staff
U.S. Sen. Charles Grassley had some tough news for area business owners Wednesday morning (Aug. 25) regarding the current labor shortage.
It’s not going to get better anytime soon.
“I think businesses are going to be on the defensive for the next three years,” he said.
Grassley, a Republican, spoke during a private event organized by the Greater Burlington Partnership, which allowed local business owners, city officials, and others to ask questions and voice their concerns.
The labor shortage and rising employee wages were chief among them. One small business owner said she was worried about how to stay competitive in a market with rising worker wages.
Grassley blamed the $300 extra unemployment benefit as the primary reason behind the labor shortage and applauded Gov. Kim Reynolds for shutting down the program in Iowa on June 1.
Grassley suggested cutting benefits to encourage more people to work.
“If we want people on welfare to go work, as they make more money, they should gradually lose their benefits. Not lose them on a cliff-like effect. Then you’re worse off than if you’re on government programs. Work incentives in the welfare program works,” he said.
Matt Wenzel, president and CEO of Great River Health Systems, said the labor shortage is especially bad for finding nurses. He said the hospital currently has 242 positions it is trying to fill and blamed staffing centers for driving up the salary of nurses.
He said traveling nurses fighting the pandemic can make 10 times more money in New York and large areas, draining local resources and driving up the wages locally.
Grassley pointed out VR (virtual reality) nursing as a possible solution. Wenzel said the hospital does use the program, and it helps. But not enough to offset staff shortages.
“We are already in a depressed condition across the country, and hospitals are shutting down. This is not fair market economics,” Wenzel said.
While answering a related question regarding whether Medicare should be allowed to negotiate medication prices with drug companies, Grassley said he is against it.
“If you have the government negotiating, they end up dictating. That usually reduces what’s available for the doctor,” he said. “I would deal with that by allowing the importation of prescription drugs in the United States, bring more competition to our local markets, and that would, in turn, reduce prices. But not in a dictator way.”
State Sen. Tim Goodwin, a Republican, of Burlington asked one of the final questions. He asked if the September deadline to vaccinate all U.S. soldiers was too quick. He believes up to 50 percent of the military may leave due to the requirement, and he wants to make sure they are honorably discharged.
Grassley said those decisions are entirely up to the president since he is the commander-in-chief. But it’s not what he would do.
“I wouldn’t require a vaccine of anybody,” he said.
Photo by William Smith