Archive for the ‘unemployment benefits extension’ Category:
Keep Illinois from losing unemployment benefits
Illinois residents currently receiving unemployment benefits stand to lose their payments
An estimated 65,000 Illinois residents currently receiving unemployment benefits stand to lose their payments by the first week in March if Congress doesn’t authorize another extension before Feb. 27. According to the National Employment Law Project.
Another 290,000 unemployed workers will lose their benefits by June.
The federal government funded several tiers of unemployment extensions, totaling 73 weeks, on top of the state’s regular 26 weeks of unemployment benefits. The federal funding was part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act and was set to expire Dec. 31, but Congress crammed a two-month extension into a military spending bill. That funding authorization expires Feb. 28.
You should contact your Representative, tell them your concerns, let them know how this will affect your family, and how it will affect your voting and your neighbors voting. Remember Democracy
- Bean, Melissa L., Illinois, 8th
- Biggert, Judy, Illinois, 13th
- Costello, Jerry, Illinois, 12th
- Davis, Danny K., Illinois, 7th
- Gutierrez, Luis, Illinois, 4th
- Foster, Bill, Illinois, 14th
- Hare, Phil, Illinois, 17th
- Halvorson, Deborah "Debbie", Illinois, 11th
- Jackson Jr., Jesse L., Illinois, 2nd
- Johnson, Timothy V., Illinois, 15th
- Kirk, Mark, Illinois, 10th
- Lipinski, Daniel, Illinois, 3rd
- Manzullo, Donald, Illinois, 16th
- Quigley, Mike, Illinois, 5th
- Roskam, Peter J., Illinois, 6th
- Rush, Bobby L., Illinois, 1st
- Schakowsky, Jan, Illinois, 9th
- Schock, Aaron, Illinois, 18th
- Shimkus, John, Illinois, 19th
Montana gets Extended Unemployment Benefits
Department of Labor officials say unemployed Montana workers will now be able to qualify for extended, federally funded benefits. EUC Tier benefits
The unemployment compensation benefit was triggered because the unemployment rate in Montana among workers in jobs insured by the unemployment program hit 5 percent this month. Usually The overall seasonally adjusted unemployment rate in the state of Montana was 6.7 percent in December.
The most recent extension is in addition to other emergency federal extensions of unemployment benefits already in place.
In general, unemployed workers qualify for up to 28 weeks of benefits in Montana. After those 28 weeks expire, Federal emergency benefits, which are paid for with federal funds, already are in place to help the people of Montana while they look for a job during this recession.
Individuals eligible for the extended benefits can expect to receive up to a maximum of 13 extra weeks of federal EUC benefits.
Extended benefits are paid at the same weekly benefit amount as the regular claim, allowing people in Montana added relief during this prolonged recession.
KY Unemployment Extension 2009
The state of Kentucky is now accepting claims for the latest Emergency Unemployment Compensation (EUC) extension that President Obama signed into law on Nov. 6 2009.Eligible claimants may now file online at http://www.oet.ky.gov and should start receiving checks for these benefits within two weeks. The unemployed who are currently drawing benefits that will exhaust on or prior to Dec. 26, will be automatically enrolled in this latest Unemployment extension.
This latest Unemployment extension provides up to 14 additional weeks of federally funded compensation to Kentucky’s unemployed workers who have exhausted their 26 weeks of state benefits and all federally funded benefits provided through all the previous the emergency extensions.
"This latest extension has the potential of assisting more than 32,000 Kentuckians who are struggling to provide for their families," said Gov. Beshear. "This additional compensation will help them endure these challenging times as we all work together to put Kentuckians back to work."
The nearly 10,000 Kentuckians who have already exhausted all 79 weeks of UI benefits may be eligible for payments retroactive to Nov. 8. A link will be made available within the online claims application by Dec 10, 2009 to allow requests of eligible weeks retroactive to that time. Claimants should wait two business days after filing to request payments for prior weeks on the oet.ky.gov Web site.
2009 October Unemployment Numbers Higher
The October 2009 unemployment rate jumped to 10.3 %, the highest rate since 1983. A total of 109,000 jobs were lost last month. Even as Republicans in Congress and President Obama disagreed on whether the president’s policies will help bring unemployment under control, the president signed legislation extending unemployment benefits by up to 20 weeks.
The president said the extension of unemployment benefits will not add to the federal deficit and will create jobs.
According to the Bureau of Labor statistics, the majority of job losses were in manufacturing, retail, and construction.
Although President Obama had predicted unemployment would rise to more than 10%, that occurred sooner than expected. Republicans were quick to criticize the president. House Minority Leader Steve Boehner, Republican from Ohio, said President Obama’s $787 billion dollar stimulus program has caused "double digit unemployment." He said it has brought on a "jobless" economic recovery.
Congressman Boehner noted Democrats said President Obama’s stimulus program would "create jobs immediately." He said Democrats claimed the unemployment rate would not go above 8%. He noted after President Obama signed the stimulus program, 3 million jobs were lost. He said Americans have asked "where are the jobs?" but have only gotten more and more spending and debt.
Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Steele noted that in the November 2009 elections, two Democrats lost their races for governor. He said this pointed out the fact that many Americans do not trust the President’s policies. He called the election of Republican governors in New Jersey and Virginia a "referendum" on President Obama’s policies. Representative Kevin Brady, a Republican from Texas, said the increase in unemployment is further "proof" that the president’s policies are failures.
Other Democrats and President Obama disagreed with the Republicans. President Obama said although patience and time will be required, he is "confident" the American economy will recover. He has often said the economy is in recovery, but unemployment is often the last area to improve in an economic downturn.
Christina Romer, chairwoman of the President’s Council of Economic Advisors, said the rise in unemployment contain signs of both labor market weakness and hope. He noted that the temporary job market increased by 33,700 jobs in October. He noted that market is one of the first to traditionally see job during an economic recovery. He noted more people were hired in the automobile market. Nevertheless, she said having double digit unemployment is a "stark reminder" of the work still to be done.
Although Labor Secretary Hilda Solis said the increase in joblessness was something that could have been forecast it is, nevertheless, an "unacceptable" situation. She said the Administration is working hard to improve the economy for millions of Americans. She noted many citizens want and need work but can’t find it. Solis also noted that before Obama became president, the country was losing far more jobs per month–700,000.
Other Democrats said the government will have to take even more action to improve the economy, including working on American infrastructure.