Get Involved For a Better America: S 1845 - The Emergency Unemployment Compensation Act was Placed on the Senate Schedule January 4, 2014

S 1845 - The Emergency Unemployment Compensation Act Was Placed on the Senate Schedule January 4, 2014 for the Next Legislative Day - Contact YOUR Senators Office

The S 1845 Emergency Unemployment Compensation Act was placed on the Senate schedule on January 4, 2014 to be acted upon on the very next legislative day. GovTrack.us says it has a 14% chance of being enacted. The bill has 21 Co-Sponsors. Only 23% of bills that made it past committee in 2011–2013 were enacted. That's not saying much because we've had an obstructionist party blocking all legislation that our current President was is favor of. See below for step-by-step instructions on finding and calling your U.S. Senators (with screenshots) and a link to track the bill and your Representatives.

Photo by www.westernjournalism.com

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid Proposes Expanding Unemployment Benefits - Not Just Extending Them

In a Washington Post blog, The Plum Line - Greg Sargent's take from a Liberal Prospective, article Reid: Let's Not Just Extend Unemployment. Let's Expand it. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid proposed expanding Emergency Unemployment Benefits, not just extending them.

The short version of this is that under the current proposal to extend the Emergency Unemployment Compensation program, the overall program would be extended three months. But that doesn’t mean all people on unemployment insurance get three months more; their duration is dictated by how much they’ve already received, and how long the duration of those in their tier are supposed to last. Each tier — there are four of them — is dictated by the unemployment rate in their states.

What Reid is proposing is to change the structure of the program, so that those in states with a high unemployment rate – but one that’s not high enough to qualify for the maximum of 73 weeks, the top tier – would get the maximum length. In other words, the duration of benefits would last longer for more people.
Reid told the Las Vegas Sun that he won’t push for this restructuring of the program until the three month extension is secured (which may or may not happen). And obviously, this is going to be a huge lift, given that even the temporary extension’s passage is in doubt.

Graph by www.dailykos.com

What Exactly is Emergency Unemployment Compensation (EUC)?

EUC is a 100% federally funded program that provides benefits to individuals who have exhausted regular state benefits. The EUC program was created on June 30, 2008, and has been modified several times. Most recently, the American Taxpayer Relief Act of 2012 (P.L. 112-240) extended the expiration date of the EUC program to January 1, 2014.These benefits DO NOT apply to provide additional weeks of benefits to individuals who had already exhausted all entitlements under previous law.

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President Obama Says He Will Sign 3-Month Extension of Unemployment Benefits

In a CBS News post by Jake Miller Unemployment Benefits' Expiration "Just Plain Cruel" a video of President Barack Obama shows him saying he would sign a 3-month extension bill for EUC. He urges Congress to pass he bill. The President says that these benefits are vital to a mother trying to feed her children while she's looking for work, or a father who needs help paying the rent while he's learning the skills to get a better job.

In another article by Greg Sargent Republicans Could Face Serious Backlash Over Unemployment Benefit Expiration he examines whether or not there will be a backlash on Republicans for refusing to extend the EUC before going home for the holidays, and continuing to be stingy.

Public Policy Polling (PPP) took a look at four Republican-occupied swing districts in the House, as well as the district of House Speaker John Boehner. Bipartisan majorities of voters in each district supported extending long-term unemployment benefits:

In California’s 31st district, currently held by Rep. Gary Miller, 68 percent of voters want the benefits continued and 28 percent support ending them. Republicans support an extension 54-41.
In Colorado’s 6th district, held by Rep. Mike Coffman, voters want the benefits extended by a 63-33 margin, with a narrow plurality of Republicans (48 percent) in favor.
Rep. Dan Benishek will face voters in Michigan’s 1st district who heavily support an extension, by a 66-29 percent margin, including 60 percent of Republicans.
In Illinois’s 13th district there is also a 66-29 percent split in favor of extending benefits, with 53 percent of Republicans in favor. The seat is currently held by Rep. Rodney Davis.

Even in Boehner’s home district, one finds similar numbers: Sixty-three percent of voters want the fund extended and 34 percent do not, including a majority (52 percent) of Republican voters.
A common rejoinder to such polling data is that perhaps voters will not prioritize the issue when casting a ballot next fall — but PPP also asked if a failure to extend long-term unemployment benefits would make voters less likely to reelect the incumbent. In each district the answer was yes.

by www.americanprogress.org

The History of Unemployment Compensation

The Social Security Act of 1935 (Public Law 74-271) created the Federal-State Unemployment Compensation (UC) Program. The program has two main objectives: (1) to provide temporary and partial wage replacement to involuntarily unemployed workers who were recently employed; and (2) to help stabilize the economy during recessions. The U.S. Department of Labor oversees the system, but each State administers its own program. Because Federal law defines the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands as States for the purposes of UC, there are 53 State programs.

photo by www.pcmech.com