WASHINGTON (SPECTRUM NEWS) — The fight over how to support workers laid off during this pandemic continues in Congress. And while lawmakers on both sides of the aisle are coming back to the negotiating table, one hard-line for Republicans is the extra $600 a week unemployment boost that was authorized in the CARES Act.

Back in May, Rep. Glenn Grothman, R-Glenbuelah during a speech on the House floor took issue with a proposal to extend that provision in the HEROES Act.

“It’s an embracing of the idea that we want to discourage work and destroy our economy,” says Rep. Grothman.

Nearly three months later and a week after the benefits expired, he says he’s still unmoved.

“If you’re going to pay somebody $950 a week not to work, a lot of people aren’t going to work. It’s just common sense,” he says.

But one recent study examining the impact of those benefits looks to change the argument on Capitol Hill.

Ten economists at Yale University released a report exploring the employment effects of “unemployment insurance generosity,” or the additional weekly money, during this pandemic. They found that it did not lead to a larger decline in employment when it took effect and workers that made more on unemployment returned to their previous jobs at similar rates as others.

“Well I haven’t seen that study but they have to talk to some people in business,” says Rep. Grothman. “I again and again have people come up to me and say they can’t find people to work and they attribute that to be the reason.”

Rep. Gwen Moore, D-Milwaukee says that assumption is absurd. She has ​been pushing Republicans to act for months and believes there’s no reason to slash the benefits now.

“Again, anything that fits into their narrative of forcing people back into their economy,” she says. “And I think this is just another iteration of the ruling class trying to maintain a low wage environment.”