Unemployment Benefits Extension Overcomes Republican Opposition in Senate

The Senate voted tonight 59-39 to extend unemployment benefits for more than 2 million workers. The bill now moves to the House, where quick passage is expected.’

Update:  The House passed the bill on July 22, and it was signed by President Obama.

Unemployment benefits for millions of laid-off workers ended on June 2. Civil and human rights groups have been advocating for the extension, which in the past had received bipartisan support. But Republicans blocked multiple votes over the past few months, leaving millions of jobless workers without a safety net. Senate Democrats were able to pick up an additional vote Tuesday following the swearing-in of Carte Goodwin as Senator from West Virginia to replace the late Senator Robert Byrd. And with the support of Republican Senators Olympia Snowe and Susan Collins, the measure had enough votes to overcome a filibuster and move forward. That vote could not come soon enough for advocates, who were dismayed at Republicans’ decision, post-cloture, to delay the final vote. 

In a recent letter to senators calling for passage of an unemployment benefits extension, Wade Henderson, president and CEO, and Nancy Zirkin, executive vice president, said:

The need for these benefits is great. In May, up to 46 percent of the unemployed had been out of work for more than 27 weeks. But these problems are not affecting all communities equally; there are dramatic disparities by race, age, and single-parent households. As documented by the Bureau of Labor Statistics, while overall unemployment in May was unacceptably high at 9.7 percent, among African Americans the jobless rate was a staggering 15.5 percent, among Latinos 12.4 percent, among households headed by a single mother 11.6 percent, and among youth 26.4 percent. The National Employment Law Project estimates that 2.5 million workers have been cut off jobless benefits since the provisions expired in June, causing states to lose millions per month in stimulus spending.