Congress mulls extending unemployment benefits

WASHINGTON, D.C.
September 18, 2008 12:02am

Legislation to extend unemployment insurance benefits for an additional 13 weeks for workers who have already exhausted their benefits and for those living in states with high unemployment rates is being considered by Congress.

It would provide seven weeks of unemployment insurance for individuals who have exhausted their benefits and 13 additional weeks of benefits to unemployed workers in states that have been hit particularly hard by the economic downturn, such as California, and have unemployment rates above 6 percent.

Both California Senators, Dianne Feinstein and Barbara Boxer, are co-sponsors of the bill along with 13 others, all Democrats.

“Extending benefits is critical for these individuals who have struggled too long to find viable employment. This is a timely and targeted action that will quickly put money into the pockets of those who need it most,” says Ms. Feinstein.

High unemployment states that would benefit from the legislation, assuming it would be approved by Congress and survive a trip to President George W. Bush, include California, Alaska, Illinois, Kentucky, Michigan, Mississippi, Missouri, Nevada, North Carolina, Ohio, Rhode Island, South Carolina, and Tennessee.

In 1991 and 2002, when unemployment rates were also high, Congress worked with the White House to enact similar legislation to extend unemployment benefits.

Congress acted in June to provide a 13-week extension of unemployment benefits as part of the federal fiscal year 2008 supplemental appropriations bill. However, additional relief was not provided to high unemployment states.

The number of unemployed workers in California has increased by nearly 375,000 between July 2007 and 2008. This number is only projected to worsen when the latest jobs numbers are released by the state on Friday.

The bill also would help states like California replenish their unemployment insurance trust funds, which help fund unemployment insurance benefits. California’s unemployment fund has been depleted by the increase in the state’s unemployment rate – currently ranked fourth highest in the nation at 7.3 percent.

Companion legislation has been introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives.