Millions Counting on Congress to Extend Unemployment Benefits

More
than six million Americans are facing the potential loss of a financial
lifeline if Congress fails to pass an extension of emergency unemployment benefits which expires on
December 31.

The
recently introduced Emergency
Unemployment Compensation Act is awaiting action in Congress. Like previous
emergency extensions, the bill would allow laid-off
workers to collect up to 99 weeks of benefits, rather than the usual 26 weeks
provided under most state programs.

At
a press conference this week in Washington, unemployed workers joined members
of Congress and workers rights advocates in
calling on Congress to pass an extension. They also
delivered a petition with more than 75,000 signatures.

“Unemployment
compensation right now is our essential lifeline,” said Jill Fleming-Salopek, a
laid-off teacher from Munhall, Pa., who
spoke at the press event. “My husband, who is also a teacher, is working, and
the unemployment benefits are a critical supplement to that income for our
family because we not only have our three kids but my mother, who is
quadriplegic and suffers from MS, lives with us as well. If Congress does not
reauthorize the federal unemployment extensions before December 31st, at that point
I would have only 13 more weeks of benefit eligibility – and then no federal
unemployment benefits at all.”

The
extension bill has drawn support from Democrats, including U.S. Reps. Sander Levin of
Michigan, Lloyd Doggett of Texas, Steny
Hoyer of Maryland, and James Clyburn of South Carolina, along with Sens. Tom Harkin of Iowa,
and Jack Reed and Sheldon Whitehouse of Rhode Island.

Advocacy
groups, including the National Employment Law Project (NELP), USAction, AFL-CIO and
MomsRising.org, are urging Congress to extend emergency unemployment benefits
through 2012.

“It
is simply a no-brainer that Congress has to renew unemployment insurance
through 2012. These modest payments help unemployed workers and their families
stay afloat and they keep money flowing into local businesses. It’s time to put
politics aside, renew these programs, and move on to other measures to create
good jobs and get the economy back on track,” said NELP
Executive Director Christine Owens.

In
a recent report, Hanging
On By a Thread, NELP found that the states of California,
Florida, New York, Texas, and New Jersey have the largest
number of unemployed workers facing the loss of benefits.

Congress
has extended long-term unemployment benefits nine times since 2008. However, conservative
groups such as the Heritage Foundation have been urging Congress not to renew
the extension, with some making the argument that the benefits are too
generous and keep people from seeking work. And some Republicans in Congress
have been raising the issue of costs, demanding that an extension be offset
by spending cuts elsewhere.

But
as NELP and others have pointed out, extended unemployment benefits are playing a vital role in boosting the economy and have kept
millions of people from falling into poverty. NELP also notes that Congress
has never let emergency unemployment benefits expire while the unemployment
rate was above 7.2 percent. The national unemployment rate was 9 percent in
October.