Extension of Jobless Benefits

Posted on December 4, 2012 by townsend

• Federal jobless benefits could vanish, By Kathleen Pender, November 29, 2012, San Francisco Chronicle: “Talk about a hard landing: About 2 million Americans, including 400,000 in California, will abruptly lose their unemployment benefits after December unless Congress votes to continue federal funding for extended benefits. This part of the ‘fiscal cliff’ has received less attention than tax increases and other spending cuts scheduled to take effect Jan. 1, but it’s well known to people like Suzanne Schellenberg of San Francisco. The 53-year-old graphic artist has been cycling between contract and freelance jobs and unemployment benefits for almost four years…”
• Safety net for jobless is set to unravel, By Todd Spangler, December 3, 2012, Detroit Free Press: “After years of extensions through the national recession and a slow recovery, the federal program paying for emergency unemployment benefits will end Dec. 29 unless a deal to extend it is brokered by a deeply divided Congress. While there seems to be some general agreement that the program should be saved, its future remains uncertain amid partisan negotiating and Republican demands that if it is to be extended, the $30-billion cost needs to be offset by budget cuts elsewhere in the government. Barring an extension, roughly 2 million people nationwide could lose unemployment benefits the week ending Dec. 29, unraveling a portion of the social safety net that, a couple of years ago, provided up to 99 weeks of total benefits in high-unemployment states, including Michigan…”