Extension of Jobless Benefits

Posted on November 30, 2010 by townsend

• Cut-off of jobless aid would shrink economic growth and raise unemployment and poverty rates, By Paul Wiseman (AP), November 30, 2010, Baltimore Sun: “If Congress lets unemployment benefits expire this week for the long-term unemployed, they won’t be the only ones to feel the pain. The overall economy would suffer, too. Unemployment benefits help drive the economy because the jobless tend to spend every dollar they get, pumping cash into businesses. A cut-off of aid for millions of people unemployed for more than six months could squeeze a fragile economy, analysts say…”
• Millions face loss of unemployment benefits, By Lyneka Little, November 30, 2010, ABC News: “The nation’s long-term unemployed will be left high and dry if Congress allows emergency unemployment benefits to grind to a halt today. The unemployment bill, along with an extension of the Bush tax cuts, are among the hottest issues in the lame-duck session of Congress that began Monday. The jobless bill has a pricetag of as much as $65 billion and the tax-cut extension could cost $3.7 trillion over the next decade, all on top of a deficit that tops $13.7 trillion. Unemployment insurance has for many decades provided about 26 weeks of benefits, but the current Congress has extended the benefit to 99 weeks in four separate bills. The consequences of ending the extended benefits aren’t entirely clear though most agree it could hurt the recovery…”
• Thousands in Kentucky and Indiana face lapse of unemployment benefits, By Chris Otts, November 28, 2010, Louisville Courier-Journal: “Amid an anti-spending atmosphere in Washington, funds to extend unemployment compensation for more than 33,000 Kentuckians and nearly 67,000 Hoosiers are likely to run out next month. The soonest Congress is scheduled to resume voting is Tuesday – but it’s uncertain if lawmakers will take up the issue, and benefits for people who have been jobless for more than six months expire the next day. Even if the House and Senate move extraordinarily quickly, administrative hurdles would keep states from getting checks out the door for at least a few weeks, said attorney Rick McHugh, Midwest coordinator for the National Employment Law Project, the main proponent of extending jobless aid…”
• Anxious time for laid-off workers as unemployment-benefit program expires, By Jamie Smith Hopkins and Lorraine Mirabella, November 29, 2010, Baltimore Sun: “Mildred Miller was just notified that her unemployment benefits will be cut off two weeks before Christmas. She can’t think about it without breaking down. ‘I don’t know what I’m going to do; I really don’t know,’ Miller said Monday, her eyes welling with tears as she scanned job listings at Baltimore County’s work force development center in Essex. ‘I don’t want to get evicted. If we get on the street, I don’t know where we’ll be.’ The Middle River resident, a single mother with a 6-year-old son, is one of thousands in Maryland and about 2 million nationwide whose payments will be phased out in December if the federally funded emergency unemployment compensation program expires Tuesday as planned. She hopes her long job search finally bears some fruit – or that Congress steps in. The prospect of losing benefits left many unemployed residents fearful about the future, as some officials at workforce development centers in the state say they’ve seen rising anxiety among job seekers. The looming cutoff also sparked a protest in Baltimore Monday night…”