OneZone Announces 2021 Legislative Priorities

allow more people to remain in the workforce while saving taxpayer money on unemployment benefits.OneZone has announced their 2021 Legislative Priorities for the upcoming session of the Indiana General Assembly. This year, OneZone has three top priorities: Employer Liability, Smoking/Cigarette Tax, and Workshare. “COVID 19 has highlighted both strengths and weaknesses in the employer community at large. By making sure our business community has confidence and feels protected, addressing health concerns, and having a creative, sustainable unemployment benefit solution, we can make an impact on our community.” stated Jack Russell, President and CEO of OneZone. You can read more about each priority below and online at onezonecommerce.com.

Employer Liability:
In order for our businesses to confidently reopen and remain open, they need to know that they will be protected from unwarranted lawsuits when they themselves have followed government-issued guidelines to appropriately protect their employees and customers from COVID-19. OneZone supports employer liability legislation specifically related to the current COVID-19 pandemic.

Smoking/Cigarette Tax:
Indiana’s tobacco use costs Hoosier businesses over $6 billion a year in health care costs, absenteeism, and productivity loss. With the recent addition of respiratory health concerns related to the COVID-19 pandemic, this is needed even more so now. Therefore, OneZone supports an increase in the tobacco tax as a disincentive to the sale of tobacco products. We also support taxing vaping/e-cigarette products similarly to how the state taxes traditional tobacco products.

Workshare:
The COVID-19 pandemic has brought to light the need for creative, sustainable unemployment benefit solutions. OneZone supports the development of an opt-in workshare program, because it would ​allow more people to remain in the workforce while saving taxpayer money on unemployment benefits.