BOSTON — This weekend, COVID-19 restrictions will be lifted, but ‘Help Wanted’ signs still stubbornly hang in the windows of many businesses. Massachusetts Republican Senator Ryan Fattman has introduced an amendment to the state budget calling for $1200 bonuses, paid in three installments, for jobless people to go back to work.
“This back-to-work bonus idea, while not perfect, I think is better than the alternative, which is incentivizing people to stay at home,” Senator Fattman said. “We need to get back to work so that there are small businesses to go back to. That’s not a truth right now. We might lose those businesses if we don’t go back to work.”\
>>>MORE: Gov. Baker files legislation to extend multiple COVID-19 emergency measures
Erik Hynes, the owner of four South Shore restaurants, is not thrilled with the idea of paying people to go back to work. But, he said, something needs to be done.
“Everyone is hungry for help. Whether it’s independent restaurants, national chains, high end, clam shack type places,” Hynes said. “The jobs are out there. We just have to make it so people are going to find those jobs.”
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