Posts Tagged ‘extended unemployment benefits’

BREAKING NEWS

June 25th, 2010

Jobless Bill Dies Amid Deficit Fears

The collapse of the wide-ranging legislation means that a total of 1.3 million unemployed Americans will have lost their assistance by the end of this week.

Under a program initially enacted last year—which expired June 2—jobless workers could receive up to 99 weeks of aid, including 26 weeks of basic assistance provided by states plus longer-term federal payments. The Labor Department estimates that the long-term unemployed, meaning those out of a job for at least six months, make up 46% of all jobless workers in the U.S.

On Thursday, Senate Democrats failed to secure the 60 votes needed to break off a GOP-led filibuster. Sen. Ben Nelson (D., Neb.) voted with Republicans in a 57-41 roll call. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D., Nev.) said this third vote on the matter would be the last, allowing the Senate to move on to modest legislation cutting taxes for small businesses.

Read the rest of  Wall Street Journal article.


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Finance: Obama Signs Unemployment Extension Bill

March 3rd, 2010

By Jackie Simmonds, NEJS Blog Editor

Jackie Simmonds

FINALLY!!! Tradingmarkets.com reports the Senate voted Tuesday evening to approve a 30-day extension of unemployment benefits, health benefits, and other expiring provisions enacted under the government’s economic stimulus plan.

This bill extends benefits for the jobless one month, including subsidies to help the unemployed buy health insurance, as well as postpones cuts in Medicare reimbursements in doctors. It also releases highway money, the delay of which forced the Transportation Department to furlough 2,000 employees. The package will also extend Medicare physician payments and flood insurance programs.

The 78-19 vote in favor of the extension came after Sen. Jim Bunning, R-Ken., agreed to allow the vote to proceed after single-handedly blocking the legislation since last Thursday.  Following the vote, President Barack Obama quickly signed the bill into law, saying, “During these difficult economic times, supporting American workers, their families and our small businesses must be everyone’s focus.”

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., said, “Today’s short-term extension of these programs gives those affected Americans peace of mind and allows the Senate more time to work together on a long-term extension of these critical programs.”

ABC News reported that under the deal, Senator Reid agreed to allow a vote on a measure to off-set the bill’s $10 billion cost with cuts in other programs.  The off-set measure is expected to fail.  So, despite Bunning’s efforts, the unemployment extension bill will not be paid for.

For the time being those whose extended unemployment benefits were approaching the end of a tier can breather a little easier.

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Finances: Extended Unemployment Benefits In Jeopardy

February 28th, 2010

By Jackie Simmonds, NEJS Blog Editor

Jackie SimmondsThe Senate failed to push back the Feb. 28 deadline to apply for extended unemployment benefits last week.  This means that beginning today, Sunday February 28, the unemployed will stop getting extended benefits as their current extension benefits expire.  This will impact 1.2 million workers in March.

Beginning on Monday, March 1 the jobless will no longer be able to apply for federal unemployment benefits or the COBRA health insurance subsidy.  Federal unemployment benefits were available after the basic state-funded 26 weeks of coverage expire. Congress had approved up to an additional 73 weeks, which are divided into tiers, and the jobless must apply each time they move into a new tier.

In an economy that is expected to sustain the just under 10% unemployment rate for all of 2010 this is bad news to people who are counting on those benefits to keep their lives glued together as they search for work.  The White House Council of Economic Advisers predicts that the unemployment rate won’t fall back to its 2008 level of 5.8% for another seven years.  To the job seeker this means their long and hard search for employment isn’t about to end any time soon.

What happened to the extension?  Lawmakers repeatedly tried to approve a 30-day extension this week, but each time, Sen. Jim Bunning, R-Ky., prevented the $10 billion measure from passing, saying it needs to be paid for first.  Senate Democrats plan to introduce legislation next week that pushes back the deadline as much as a year, an aide said. The House approved a bill in December that extended the deadline to the end of June.  Until the job extension is approved the people impacted will loose their benefits, once the measure is approved, the jobless would be able to reapply for federal benefits, though they would not receive missed payments.  Interrupted payments will create financial hardships for individuals who are already stretched thin by the length of time it is taking to find work.

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