As Mitchell has written, it’s unemployment insurance extension time again.
And once again, one Republican is coming forward to block it — one is coming forward, but his party is with him.
In a statement, the National Employment Law Project says:
“It is unacceptable that Congress has, for a second time, failed to extend the existing federal benefits programs with so many people counting on this assistance. We have been down this road already and seen the turmoil it caused. Congress cannot continue to play games with people’s lives. They need to get the job done, now,” said Christine Owens, Executive Director of the National Employment Law Project.
“One million people are now newly at risk of losing benefits in April because of Congress’s failure to act, and 212,000 alone will lose benefits in the first week. It will be devastating if
Congress takes a two-week break with such significant business left unfinished. There’s no break in the crisis for unemployed workers. The House has passed an extension, and now the Senate needs to get it done before the program is slated to expire,” said Owens.
“The delay in the extension comes at great expense to jobless workers and the U.S. economy.
There are now 14.9 million unemployed Americans and long-term unemployment afflicts 6.1 million – over 40 percent of the unemployed. Over 11 million jobless workers are collecting some form of unemployment insurance, including nearly 5.7 million receiving extensions. There is much work to be done and workers simply cannot afford to go through this benefits renewal drama every month or two. Congress must approve this stopgap extension immediately, and then after the recess, extend the jobless programs through the end of 2010 so that we do not find ourselves in this situation again,” said Owens.
But Congress has gone on recess and will not be back until April 12.
Coburn is not called Dr. No for nothing—the list of bills he’s blocked over the years is truly epic. So maybe this is just Coburn being Coburn. Maybe it’s Senate Republicans extracting some blood because they’re made health care reform passed. They’ve made it abundantly clear they’re willing to hurt working people for their own political ends, and this could be that.
Whatever the reason is, the outcome is suffering around the country.
Tell your senator this must be priority one on April 12.
Tags: unemployment, unemployment extension
The Senate finds itself in an all-too-familiar but very uncomfortable place, facing an April 5 expiration of expanded unemployment insurance and COBRA subsidy programs while it looks to adjourn for a two-week recess this Friday. Despite the fact that both the House and the Senate already passed bills extending those and other programs through the end of 2010, differences between those bills still need to be worked out, something that won’t happen immediately. That means that the Senate will need to pass yet another 30-day extension, something the House has already accomplished.
If this all sounds a bit like the movie Groundhog Day there’s good reason. This is at least the fourth time since last Fall that Congress has had to take up an emergency short-term extension of these critically needed benefits for millions of unemployed.
This time, if the Senate fails to act in time, an estimated one million jobless Americans could lose their unemployment benefits entirely in the month of April alone.
Last time, you’ll recall, the week-long shameless obstruction led by Republican Senator Jim Bunning (KY) was finally defeated and the programs were continued to April 5. Now that deadline isn’t just right around the corner — it’s practically upon us as the Senate plans to take two-weeks off starting the end of this week.
“The Senate has a very important obligation to the unemployed of this country and their families,” Judy Conti, federal advocacy coordinator for the National Employment Law Project, told me today. “Once they finish the business of reforming health care this week, they must pass the 30-day extension of the UI and COBRA programs,” she said, adding that “Senate leadership must commit to staying in session until it is passed, and no one should obstruct this important piece of legislation that is the only lifeline for a million workers next month alone.”
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) reportedly will seek to bring the 30-day extension to a vote under a unanimous consent request, as he did in late February for the previous emergency extension. Whether Bunning or other Republicans would object, forcing a more time consuming set of procedural votes, is uncertain. Republicans could also stall, or endanger timely passage completely, by trying to insist on changes to the bill passed by the House.
If Republicans, tired and bruised by their defeats on health care reform, want to go home for recess, they won’t stand in the way of continuing unemployment benefits for millions of Americans. But if they do attempt their usual obstructions again this time, the Democrats should keep them in session until it is passed.
Tell the Senate to pass the 30-day unemployment and COBRA benefits extension immediately. Click here to send your Senators that message now.
Tags: COBRA, Jim Bunning, unemployment, unemployment extension
We’re pleased to welcome George Wentworth of the National Employment Law Project to answer reader questions about unemployment insurance. We’ll do our best to get answers to any questions posted as comments. If you post a question, please be sure to mention what state you’re in, since different states do things differently.
The questions below relate to specific aspects of the federal unemployment insurance extensions currently in place. Before answering these specific questions, let me provide some general background and an update on current efforts in Congress to reauthorize these programs.
All workers get regular state unemployment insurance benefits for up to 26 weeks. (Note: In states paying less than 26 weeks of UI benefits, unemployed workers get a proportionately smaller share of benefits under federal extension programs.) Generally, workers then draw Emergency Unemployment Compensation (EUC) followed by Extended Benefits (EB), where available. There are up to four “tiers” of Emergency Unemployment Compensation (EUC) extensions available depending upon state unemployment levels. Extended Benefits are not available in all states.
EUC Tiers I and II
Unemployed workers in all states qualify for benefits under EUC Tier I and Tier II. Tier I provides 20 weeks of benefits and Tier II provides 14 weeks for a total of 34 weeks. For 3 states with (3‐month average) unemployment rates under 6.0 percent (NE, ND, and SD), this 34 weeks represents the total available extension weeks.
EUC Tier III
In states with high unemployment (defined as 6.0 percent average 3‐month total unemployment or higher), unemployed workers can become eligible for an additional 13 weeks of benefits known as EUC Tier III. Currently, there are 47 states (all except NE, ND, and SD), as well as the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands, in which unemployed workers can qualify for EUC Tier III.
EUC Tier IV
In states with 3‐month average total unemployment rates at or above 8.5 percent, unemployed workers can qualify for 6 additional weeks of extension benefits under EUC Tier IV. The 28 states, as well as the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico, currently paying Tier IV benefits are AL,AK, AZ, CA, CT, DE, FL, GA, ID, IL, IN, KY, MA, MI, MS, MO, NV, NJ, NY, NC, OH, OR, PA, RI, SC, TN, WA, and WV.
Extended Benefits (EB)
Finally, a separate program, called the Extended Benefits (EB) program is currently triggered on in 39 states. There are either 13 or 20 additional weeks of benefits, under the EB program depending upon which EB triggers are part of each state’s UI law and each state’s unemployment level. As of January 31, 2010, 28 states and the District of Columbia are paying 20 weeks of EB (AL,AK AZ,CA,CT, DE, GA, ID,IL,IN,KY,ME,MA, MI,NV,NJ,NY,NC,OH,OR,PA,RI,SC,TN,TX, WA, WV, and WI). Seven states and Puerto Rico are providing 13 weeks of EB (CO, KS, MN, NH, NM, VT, and VA).
Current Legislative Efforts to Reauthorize UI Extensions
Current federal extensions (including both the Emergency Unemployment Compensation and Extended Benefits programs), the additional $25 per week in each benefits check (known as Federal Additional Compensation (FAC)), and 65% COBRA subsidies for jobless workers are set to expire at the end of February 2010. The House has passed an extension of these provisions until June of this year in its Jobs Bill - and now the Senate needs to act.
We at the National Employment Law Project (NELP) are urging Congress to extend the EUC program, full federal funding of Extended Benefits, the $25 per week in Federal Additional Compensation, and the 65% 15-month COBRA subsidy through the end of 2010. Economists agree that unemployment will remain at extremely high levels through the end of this calendar year; therefore it is important to extend this program through 2010. While there appears to be majority support for reauthorization, there are also strong indications that Congress will likely extend these programs for a number of months, not for the rest of the year..
These benefits are set to expire on February 28, 2010, but in fact, if Congress does not extend these important benefits before Friday, February 19, 2010, states will have to start sending out notices to claimants that their benefits are expiring, and they will have to start reprogramming their computer systems to shut down with EUC, EB and FAC benefits. Were Congress to act after the 19th of February, there would be substantial delays in getting state programs back up and running and the disruption of benefits would be devastating to families and communities.
Questions
(1) eieio writes:
Out of work since Dec 2007 and about to come to the end of the line. Moved from CA to TN to have a better chance at a job with no such luck.
If no Tier 5, no house or food. Will have to file bankruptcy. Had to give up COBRA due to out of state move and couldn’t afford conversion policy. NOW WHAT?
(2) Dcarter08 writes:
I am 52 and have been unemployed since 11-07. I am down to my last unemployment check if a tier 5 is not put in place asap. I will be homeless by months end with no where to go and no way of paying my bills, what should I expect?
Answer: Unfortunately, it does not appear that there is any likelihood that the legislation pending in Congress will create a new Tier V of the EUC program. Although the number of workers who are categorized as long-term unemployed (out of work more than 6 months) has grown to over 40% of all unemployed, both the House and Senate are focusing on reauthorization of the EUC program as it currently exists.
While there is currently no legislative proposal for a Tier V of EUC, this is an idea that will become more compelling when Congress begins to hear stories of workers exhausting the last of their benefits. That is why it is important to tell your senator or representative your story now. NELP will continue to advocate for benefits and programs that will provide assistance to those workers whose benefits expire in the months ahead.
(3) Nydarling writes:
I also think they need to address workers laid off at the end of August 2009. In New York, if you were laid off after August 24, 2009 you get 26 weeks unemployment, that’s all ! I believe this inequity needs to be addressed, we are in need too, having been laid off in some of the highest time of unemployment. Extensions only being given to those out the longest are not fair……my bills will not go away when my unemployment ends in March !!!! Give me the same year and half that others have had!
(4) wrtrgal5 writes:
I agree with nydarling. Those of us who were laid off at the end of August 2009 get 26
weeks unemployment, which ends this month. What about us???
Answer: Both of you point out one of the greatest inequities that would result if Congress did not act to reauthorize the EUC program past February 28th. As workers who would exhaust their basic 26 weeks of state UI benefits after February 28th, you would not be able to access any tier of EUC unless Congress reauthorizes the program and sets a later expiration date. Depending on what state you are filing in, you might have entitlement to Extended Benefits (EB) – see above for listing of EB states. Finally, it is worth noting that claimants who start a tier of EUC before February 28th can collect the balance of their entitlements under that tier under phase-out provisions of the law.
(5) Cd53218 writes:
I am at the end of Tier 3 and was told by the unemployment office here in Wisconsin we are NO longer eligible to receive any more benefits past this.. OK I’m a little freaked out, confused as to what I’m suppose to do next… I’ve written to Washington, called my Senator and Governor…what more can we do?
Answer: Because the 3-month average unemployment rate in Wisconsin just fell below 8.5%, Wisconsin has triggered off Tier IV of the EUC program. However, Wisconsin is still triggered on to the Extended Benefits (EB) program and there are 20 weeks of EB payable to claimants exhausting EUC benefits. You should contact the Wisconsin UI agency about possible entitlement to EB.
No legal advice is being given and no attorney-client relationship is created by the use of this information. An attorney should be consulted for more detailed information in individual cases. The National Employment Law Project (NELP) and Working America (WA) shall not be liable for the information provided herein, or for the results obtained from the use of such information.
Tags: unemployment, unemployment extension
Last week we reported on the crisis facing state and federal jobless aid and unemployed health insurance benefits.
On Monday, according to The New York Times, a group of state labor officials were joined by labor, civil rights and unemployed advocacy groups in A Plea to Congress on Jobless Benefits.
State labor officials and worker advocates on Monday appealed for quick Congressional action to extend emergency unemployment benefits and to renew health insurance subsidies for the long-term jobless.
Prolonged unemployment insurance, passed this year in the stimulus act, expires this month, and officials estimate that more than one million workers will see benefits end in January if Congress does not act.
The health subsidies, under which the federal government pays 65 percent of insurance costs under Cobra for up to nine months, have already expired and are not available to the newly unemployed, who will have to pay family premiums averaging $1,100 if they want to keep their existing health plans.
Renewal this month of both forms of aid is “a moral imperative,” Sandi Vito, the secretary of the Pennsylvania Department of Labor and Industry, said at a news conference here on Monday. Ms. Vito, who was joined by senior labor officials from seven other states, said the extensions were needed “through at least the end of 2010 as a bridge for people.”
The National Employment Law Project, or NELP
estimates that in January alone over 1million workers will lose access to federal jobless benefits.
This number includes nearly 466,000 workers who were laid off in July 2009 and will exhaust their 26 weeks of state benefits without qualifying for any additional federal assistance. Because the ARRA expires, they will not be able to access the next stages of unemployment assistance—the temporary EUC extension program or the permanent program of Extended Benefits.
In addition nearly 570,000 workers who have already moved from state to federal benefits will not be eligible to continue receiving EUC past their current “tier” of benefits. EUC has four tiers of benefits but workers will not be able to progress to the next tier once their current one runs out in January.
Among the organizations joining the call for Congressional action today were the National Employment Law Project (NELP), the AFL-CIO, the Leadership Conference on Civil Rights, and the National Women’s Law Center.
NELP has on online call to action you can sign urging Congress to reauthorize the jobless aid provision extensions.
Tags: COBRA, jobless aid, unemployment, unemployment extension
This is a landmark we knew we’d be hitting, but really didn’t want to.
Unemployment worsened in October to 10.2 percent, a huge jump from 9.8 percent in September. That’s 15.7 million jobless workers, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Worse, the unemployment and underemployment rate is a shocking 17.5 percent—more than 27 million American workers without full-time jobs.
The construction, manufacturing and retail industries had the biggest losses, with 62,000 construction jobs lost in October, 61,000 in manufacturing and 40,000 in retail. Health care and temporary employment were the only bright spots, with health care jobs increasing by 29,000 and temp jobs by 44,000.
Meteor Blades at Daily Kos writes:
The disconnect between a quarter-century ago and what American working stiffs now face is readily apparent. Ignoring for the moment all those long-standing issues underlying this and other recent U.S. economic crises – stagnant wages, off-shored jobs, a tax code favoring upward transfers of wealth, corporate concentration, and profound conflicts of interest by high government officials, to name a few – today’s counterparts of the consumers who drove previous recoveries live in a different world.
They are heavily indebted and 5.6 million of them have already been out of work longer than the duration of the entire 1981-82 recession. Good news in productivity improvements, vastly reduced layoffs, unexpected improvements in automobile sales and the first GDP expansion in four quarters are tempered by the fact we’re moving upward off very low bottoms, and by bad news like increased bankruptcies, dramatic increases in foreclosures in previously stable cities, and the coming tsunami of lay-offs caused by state budget crashes. Moreover, that touted engine of job growth, small businesses, are having a devil of a time getting the loans they need from the banks the taxpayers bailed out.
Sometime, most likely late in the first quarter of 2010, but possibly sooner, net positive job growth will return. But without further government stimulus – a most difficult sell in Congress these days – the speed with which we get back to where we were two years ago is likely to be torpid. The disconnect between the GDP recovery and the job recovery could expand even more.
Yesterday’s vote by the House to extend unemployment benefits—a bill that President Obama is signing today—is a small bright spot.
Economists generally support extending unemployment insurance. The bill would prolong benefits for at least 14 weeks for people out of work. The jobless in more than two dozen states where unemployment rates exceed 8.5 percent would receive to 20 additional weeks of benefits.
Because unemployed people tend to be strapped for cash, they often spend most if not all of the money they receive as benefits. This in turn tends to give a bigger boost to the wider economy than do many other forms of government spending.
“It’s hard to think of any other initiative we can name that is as beneficial to job creation,” House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) said of the unemployment-benefits provision. “Its original purpose is fairness to those workers who have paid into the insurance system, and now they are getting insurance benefits, but it also has an impact as a stimulant.”
As we’ve written before, without this extension, unemployment benefits would have for more than a million people. Getting help for them—and money into the economy—is a good thing. But it would be better if the government would take further action to decisively lessen unemployment.
Tags: unemployment, unemployment extension
After a month of delays by Senate Republicans, as reported here yesterday, last night the Senate finally passed a national extension of unemployment benefits. During the month of delay an estimated 180,000 jobless Americans lost their unemployment pay.
The final vote was 98 to 0. And it took a month to get to “yes”. Why? One reason was that Republicans finally agreed to allow a vote on the bill once the unemployment extension was joined with an extension and expansion of the homebuyer’s tax credit.
Senators voted 98-0 to approve the measure, which would also extend the $8,000 first-time homebuyer tax credit through next April and expand it to include homeowners who have lived in their current residences for five years or more.
What does one have to do with the other? Good question, if you ask me. But that’s the U.S. Senate for you.
The good news is that the bill would extend unemployment benefits for a minimum of 14 weeks in every state, and by up to 20 weeks in states with unemployment rates above 8.5%.
The House is now reportedly scheduled to take the Senate measure up later today. If approved it will go to President Obama for his signature.
Finally.
Tags: unemployment extension
After a month of shameless political and procedural delays by Senate Republicans, it appears that the Senate may soon get to vote to extend unemployment insurance payments to the 1.3 million Americans whose benefits would run out by the end of this year.
But last night The Detroit News reported that the vote may be delayed yet again.
Today, the Senate has been grinding its way through a 30-hour period of debate that ends shortly before midnight.
Senate Democrats and Republicans haven’t been able to work out a deal to proceed more quickly to a vote because Republicans are upset the majority party won’t let them offer more amendments.
Sen. Jon Kyl, R-Ariz., defended the delay by fellow Republicans.
Sen. Richard Durbin, D-Ill., shot back that during the 26-day delay by Republicans, 180,000 Americans cashed their final unemployment checks.
“When the unemployment check ends, they know it,” Durbin said. “Because that’s the check that puts bread on the table, that’s the check that pays the mortgage and the utility bills, keeps their family together.”
The Senate bill would extend 14 additional weeks of benefits to all states, plus six more weeks for states with at least an 8.5 percent unemployment rate. Michigan’s rate is 15.3 percent — the highest in the nation.
The House passed legislation in late September that would target 13 weeks of additional benefits solely to states with at least 8.5 percent unemployment.
Meanwhile, 600,000 Americans have cashed their last checks. Without congressional action, 1.3 million Americans will have gone through their last checks by year’s end.
Every day of delay another 7,000 jobless Americans lose their unemployment insurance. Today is another one of those days. Contact your Senators to tell them “No more delays on extending unemployment benefits!”
Tags: unemployment, unemployment extension
