Jobless Benefits – Pennsylvania

Pa. legislators reach deal on jobless benefits, By Mark Scolforo (AP), June 16, 2011, Philadelphia Inquirer: “A deal to avoid letting 45,000 Pennsylvanians lose unemployment-compensation benefits was announced by state legislative leaders late Wednesday, with limits on the maximum size of benefit checks and a requirement that recipients look for work. The compromise would cap the largest weekly benefit check at $573 for next year. The bill also would count severance pay of more than $17,800 against benefits, a move that would apply to about 6,000 beneficiaries. The average weekly benefit in Pennsylvania is about $310. House Majority Leader Mike Turzai (R., Allegheny) said the compromise was fair to employers and employees and amounted to the state’s only unemployment-compensation reforms in at least a decade. Republicans projected it would save the unemployment-compensation fund more than $114 million this year…”