Expansion of Jobless Benefits – Ohio

Ohio unlikely to get $176M for jobless benefits, By Andy Brownfield (AP), August 21, 2011, Dayton Daily News: “As Ohio faced Monday’s deadline to expand unemployment benefits and receive $176 million in federal stimulus money, state officials had not applied for the money and the General Assembly had not scheduled any sessions to take any action.  The federal government set aside $7 billion for unemployment compensation for states that broaden their unemployment programs. The provision is part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. ‘The idea was to reward states who update laws to increase access to benefits,’ said Wayne Vroman, an unemployment compensation expert under contract with the Ohio Department of Jobs and Family Services. But Gov. John Kasich says it makes no sense for the state to make long-term changes to a fiscally-damaged system for a one-time payment, spokesman Rob Nichols said. And the jobs department, which administers the state’s unemployment compensation system, is not seeking any changes, department spokesman Ben Johnson said…”