Long-term unemployed watch coming debate over benefits closely, By John Fritze, March 22, 2014, Baltimore Sun: “The first thing Eric Miles lost was his Jeep. Then it was the apartment that he and his 12-year-old son called home. Since the federal government cut off jobless benefits for the long-term unemployed late last year, the 54-year-old East Baltimore man has moved in with his sister, relied on family to pay the phone bill and borrowed bus fare to go out and look for work. ‘You’re talking about $3.50 for an all-day bus pass,’ Miles said. ‘If you don’t have the $3.50 coming in, you don’t have it.’ Nearly three months after Congress allowed the benefits to lapse, tens of thousands of out-of-work Marylanders are hoping that a bipartisan deal to extend the program through May will win approval. But the plan could be doomed by opposition from some conservatives, who say the benefits create a disincentive for seeking a job, as well as a national group representing state unemployment officials…”
Senate to take yet another crack at passing jobless aid extension, By Karoun Demirjian, March 23, 2014, Las Vegas Sun: “Jeff Frischmann will wait and see if the newest version of legislation to extend emergency unemployment benefits passes the Senate this week. He knows that if it does, and ultimately becomes law, it will mean working out the bugs at his job. Frischmann, chief of unemployment insurance operations at Nevada Department of Employment, Training and Rehabilitation, is confident, though, as he anticipates the flood of people returning to the system to file claims…”
Senate likely to tackle extended benefits this week, By Jack Katzanek, March 24, 2014, Press-Enterprise: “A measure to extend unemployment benefits for an estimated 2 million people, including probably more than 40,000 in Inland Southern California, is likely to be discussed on the floor of the U.S. Senate at some point this week, sources in Washington, D.C. said. A coalition of Republican and Democrat senators worked out a compromise measure on March 13 that would extend the unemployment benefits, which last for 26 weeks in California, for an additional five months. Congress was not in session last week, but the measure is on this week’s list of priorities…”
Only 11% of the long-term unemployed find work again a year later, By Ricardo Lopez, March 20, 2014, Los Angeles Times: “In a sobering new study, three Princeton economists found that only 11% of the long-term unemployed in any given month found full-time work a year later. The paper, presented Thursday at a Brookings Panel on Economic Activity, offered a comprehensive look at the profile of the long-term unemployed. The lead economist behind the study is Alan B. Krueger, the former chairman of President Obama’s Council of Economic Advisors. The economists tested the hypothesis of whether a low supply of jobs or discrimination by employers contributed to long-term unemployment. The answer? Probably both…”
Jobs scarce for U.S. long-term unemployed, By Josh Boak (AP), March 21, 2014, The Tennessean: “A new study documents the bleak plight of Americans who have been unemployed for more than six months: Just 11 percent of them, on average, will ever regain steady full-time work. The findings by three Princeton University economists show the extent to which the long-term unemployed have been shunted to the sidelines of the U.S. economy since the Great Recession. The long-term jobless number 3.8 million, or 37 percent of all unemployed Americans…”
States have provided jobless benefits retroactively before — so why can’t they now?, By Stephen Koff, March 20, 2014, Cleveland Plain Dealer: “The folks who administer unemployment compensation say that the start-stop-start nature of the latest jobless-benefits proposal in Washington would be unworkable in the states. That’s because, they say, it is the states, not the federal government, that must administer the benefits and deal with all the hassles, regardless of whether the benefits are paid for by the feds…”
Senate reaches bipartisan deal on unemployment benefits extension, By Paul Kane, March 13, 2014, Washington Post: “Senate negotiators struck a bipartisan deal Thursday that would renew federal unemployment benefits for the long-term jobless, allowing for retroactive payments to go to more than 2 million Americans whose benefits expired in late December. Ten senators, evenly divided among Democrats and Republicans, announced the pact and set up a timeline in which the legislation could pass the Senate in late March. Its outcome in the House remains up in the air, however…”
Senators strike bipartisan jobless benefits deal, By Alan Fram (AP), March 14, 2014, St. Louis Post-Dispatch: “Chalk up one partisan election-year battle that senators seem likely to resolve when they return from recess later this month — the fight over renewing expired benefits for the long-term unemployed. Bipartisan Senate negotiators said Thursday that they’d struck a $9.7 billion compromise over the issue, agreeing to a five-month extension paid for by boosting some federal revenues. Approval seemed likely by the Democratic-led Senate when it returns in late March from a weeklong recess. That would throw the issue into the Republican-run House, where its fate is uncertain…”
