- Senate set for fight over jobless benefit extension, By Liz Halloran, April 9, 2010, National Public Radio: “When senators return Monday from a two-week recess, they are expected to tackle the politically divisive question of whether to extend a deadline for unemployed Americans to apply for supplemental federal help. Before the break, congressional Democrats and Republicans were bickering over how to pay for the program, which can extend assistance payments for months – more if the recipient lives in one of the hardest-hit states. And so lawmakers left town without acting on a proposal that would have allowed newly eligible Americans access to the pay and health care benefits. The result: On Monday, the government stopped accepting applications for the assistance…”
- Neb. goes after jobless aid, By Paul Hammel, April 9, 2010, Omaha World-Herald: “Nebraska is reversing course and going after a last bit of federal stimulus money after all. State senators gave 37-0 first-round approval Thursday for a plan to qualify the state for $43.6 million in stimulus funds to shore up its recession-battered unemployment insurance fund. The vote came after a compromise was struck between the state’s major business and labor groups, and a year after the state’s business community and Gov. Dave Heineman voiced strong objection to seeking the money. New interest in seeking the money arose after Nebraska companies were socked this year with an average 165 percent increase in their rates for unemployment insurance. That prompted negotiations, which resulted in a deal last week that balances some unemployment benefit improvements required by the $7 billion Unemployment Insurance Modernization Act of 2009 with some cuts in benefits…”
Poverty-related issues in the news, from the Institute for Research on Poverty