Wednesday, June 30, 2010
@Maddow - Rachel Maddow, MSNBC, on the history and recent collapse of unemployment insurance
Haves: Have Not - Rachel Maddow Show last Friday
Tuesday, June 29, 2010
Goodbye, H.R. 5618
As quickly as it was introduced is as quickly as the bill died. H.R. 5618 is dead. Concerns about the debt have trumped the needs of the unemployed. The long term unemployed who have exhausted all benefits are hoping for a miracle as nothing has been introduced or even talked about (except for the mention of a mini stimulus or second stimulus recommended by the Obama Administration).
Here is the latest on what happened today on H.R. 5618 from The Hill:
Here is the latest on what happened today on H.R. 5618 from The Hill:
The House failed Tuesday afternoon to pass an unemployment benefits extension under suspension of the rules. |
The bill failed to gain the two-thirds needed — 261-155 — with 30 Republicans voting in support while 16 Democrats opposed the legislation.
House of Representatives Introduces H.R. 5618
UPDATE: This bill failed today in the United States House of Representatives. The text that was posted earlier will remain however it is no longer applicable. It remains solely to compare a bill that might come forward and also to compare against previous legislation introductions.
The information below is no longer relevant to the current situation.
As posted at, http://waysandmeans.house.gov/press/PRArticle.aspx?NewsID=11236
Status: FAILED
H.R. 5618 The Restoration of Emergency Unemployment Compensation Act
Click here for the text of H.R. 5618
Click here for a graph of the cumulative number of workers losing unemployment benefits due to Senate Republicans’ filibuster of H.R. 4213
Click here for state-by-state breakdown of the estimated number of claimants losing unemployment benefits by July 3, 2010 if Congress fails to act.
• The Emergency Unemployment Compensation (EUC) Program began to phase out at the end of May.
• This means individuals exhausting their 26 weeks of regular unemployment benefits over the last month, or exhausting any of the tiers of Federal EUC benefits during this time, are not eligible for emergency unemployment benefits.
• The legislation would retroactively restore those benefits and continue the EUC program through November.
• In addition, the legislation would restore full Federal funding for the permanent-law Extended Benefits program (through November).
• Both of these same policies were included in the jobs package (HR 4213) passed by the House on May 28th.
• Without this extension, an estimated 1.7 million individuals will have lost their unemployment benefits by July 3.
• The bill also includes two beneficiary protections: the continuation of a rule that conditions State eligibility to offer Federal unemployment benefits on an assurance that the State is not cutting the level of regular unemployment benefits; and a safeguard included in the House-passed jobs package (HR 4213) that prevents EUC claimants from having their benefits cut if intermittent earnings requalifies them for regular, State unemployment benefits (which may provide lower payments because the claimant’s more recent wages were lower).
• Unlike the House jobs package (HR 4213), the legislation does not include an extension of the Federal Additional Compensation program, which increases all UI benefits by $25 a week.
The above text is verbatim from the House Ways & Means Committee website posted today, June 29, 2010.
This bill does not include additional weeks of benefits.
In order to pass this bill, Democrats will need 3 Republican votes. Both Senators from Maine have agreed to vote for a stand-alone bill but there is still one vote needed as Senator Ben Nelson has 'bailout fatigue'.
The information below is no longer relevant to the current situation.
As posted at, http://waysandmeans.house.gov/press/PRArticle.aspx?NewsID=11236
Status: FAILED
H.R. 5618 The Restoration of Emergency Unemployment Compensation Act
Click here for the text of H.R. 5618
Click here for a graph of the cumulative number of workers losing unemployment benefits due to Senate Republicans’ filibuster of H.R. 4213
Click here for state-by-state breakdown of the estimated number of claimants losing unemployment benefits by July 3, 2010 if Congress fails to act.
Summary:
• The Emergency Unemployment Compensation (EUC) Program began to phase out at the end of May.
• This means individuals exhausting their 26 weeks of regular unemployment benefits over the last month, or exhausting any of the tiers of Federal EUC benefits during this time, are not eligible for emergency unemployment benefits.
• The legislation would retroactively restore those benefits and continue the EUC program through November.
• In addition, the legislation would restore full Federal funding for the permanent-law Extended Benefits program (through November).
• Both of these same policies were included in the jobs package (HR 4213) passed by the House on May 28th.
• Without this extension, an estimated 1.7 million individuals will have lost their unemployment benefits by July 3.
• The bill also includes two beneficiary protections: the continuation of a rule that conditions State eligibility to offer Federal unemployment benefits on an assurance that the State is not cutting the level of regular unemployment benefits; and a safeguard included in the House-passed jobs package (HR 4213) that prevents EUC claimants from having their benefits cut if intermittent earnings requalifies them for regular, State unemployment benefits (which may provide lower payments because the claimant’s more recent wages were lower).
• Unlike the House jobs package (HR 4213), the legislation does not include an extension of the Federal Additional Compensation program, which increases all UI benefits by $25 a week.
The above text is verbatim from the House Ways & Means Committee website posted today, June 29, 2010.
This bill does not include additional weeks of benefits.
In order to pass this bill, Democrats will need 3 Republican votes. Both Senators from Maine have agreed to vote for a stand-alone bill but there is still one vote needed as Senator Ben Nelson has 'bailout fatigue'.
Sunday, June 27, 2010
Friday, June 25, 2010
H.R. 4213 is dead; it's time for a new strategy or that second stimulus talked up recently.
This issue is now more than just about an unemployment extension and a Medicare adjustment. This issue is now about: Do you stand with the American workers who have fallen on a rough job market or do you stand over in a corner somehwere silent about the issue chanting with big business proud to have defeated the hardest hit persons in the Great Recession?H.R. 4213 is dead; it's time for a new strategy or that second stimulus talked up recently.
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