Millions to lose unemployment benefits if Congress doesn’t act, By Tami Luhby, October 11, 2011, CNNMoney.com: “Millions of unemployed Americans are waiting for Congress to do something other than trade barbs over their job creation plans. If lawmakers don’t act soon, the jobless see their unemployment checks start to disappear come January. More than 6 million Americans are set to lose federal unemployment benefits in 2012, with 1.8 million running out in January alone, according to new figures from the National Employment Law Project. President Obama’s $447 billion American Jobs Act would extend the deadline to file for federal unemployment benefits for another year. Though the Senate is expected to take up the controversial jobs bill on Tuesday, it’s unlikely to get very far…”
Day: October 11, 2011
Drug Testing and Assistance Programs
States adding drug test as hurdle for welfare, By A.G. Sulzberger, October 10, 2011, New York Times: “As more Americans turn to government programs for refuge from a merciless economy, a growing number are encountering a new price of admission to the social safety net: a urine sample. Policy makers in three dozen states this year proposed drug testing for people receiving benefits like welfare, unemployment assistance, job training, food stamps and public housing. Such laws, which proponents say ensure that tax dollars are not being misused and critics say reinforce stereotypes about the poor, have passed in states including Arizona, Indiana and Missouri. In Florida, people receiving cash assistance through welfare have had to pay for their own drug tests since July, and enrollment has shrunk to its lowest levels since the start of the recession…”