A Bill Extending the Deadline for Unemployment Benefits to Be Released Today

The American Jobs and Closing Tax Loopholes Act Would Extend EUC and COBRA Benefits Through 2010

J Budd, RN
J Budd, RN, Yahoo! Contributor Network
May 20, 2010 "Share your voice on Yahoo! websites. Start Here."
Legislation extending the expiration date for unemployment benefits will be released today, according the official website for the House Ways and Means Committee. The American Jobs and Closing Tax Loopholes Act would not only extend the deadline for Emergency Unemployment Compensation (EUC) but would also do the same for COBRA health benefits. The current EUC and COBRA benefits are set to expire on June 2, 2010. The American Jobs and Closing Tax Loopholes Act seeks to raise taxes on fund managers and venture capitalists as means to finance these extensions.

Extending the deadline vs. Tier V

This current legislation is NOT seeking to install a fifth extension (Tier V) of unemployment benefits. What it will do is give people who have not yet qualified for Tiers II-III-IV a chance to get to those levels and be entitled to those benefits. Currently most states, with regular unemployment benefits and the four Tiers, have given up to 99 weeks of jobless compensation.

This bill, however, is of little compensation for the long term unemployed who have already exhausted their 99 weeks of benefits.

"I think that the bill is important...There are too many unemployed people out there and I know that there are no jobs...It makes me sad that we are not included," said Donna Davies, creator of the Facebook page Tier V To Survive. Davies herself is a 99er who has exhausted her 99 weeks of unemployment benefits and is facing eviction. "I mean people are living on the streets and in cars. These are educated people that have worked their whole lives....There should be {a} "will" to help us. What if it was someone in their family?"

According to Davies, some followers of Tier V To Survive have gotten responses to their pleas for a fifth extension of unemployment benefits. Some of the more supportive members of Congress have been Senator Robert P. Casey (D-PA) and Congresswoman Jan Schakowsky (D-IL). However, nothing is in the works just yet for the creation of a Tier V. "I can only hold onto the hope that someone will finally see that we need them or we will loose everything!", Davies laments.

Evidence of a future Tier V

According to an article on The Examiner, an aide to Senator Harry Reid (D-NV ) had this to say regarding creation of a Tier V:

"Senator Reid supports continued assistance for the unemployed. The bill the Senate will consider before the Memorial Day break continues the federal Extended Unemployment Compensation program through the end of the year......Once this framework is in place for the rest of the year, we can explore the right policies to provide additional assistance to long-term unemployed workers"

A glimmer of hope...yes. But for millions of 99ers, the wait will feel like an eternity.

Sources:

Beck, Matthew Levin, Baucus to Release Joint Legislation to Create Jobs, Extend Tax Cuts for Families and Businesses, Support Americans Looking for Work, House Ways and Means Committee press release, May 20, 2010

email correspondence with Donna Davies of Tier V To Survive

Thornton, Michael, Tier 5: Sen. Reid's office: will explore long term unemployed policies after passage of H.R. 4213, The Examiner May 19, 2010

Published by J Budd, RN - Featured Contributor in Health & Wellness

I am a registered nurse and former radio broadcast journalist in the NYC/NJ area for over a decade. Some of the stations I have worked with include Bloomberg News Radio, Sirius Satellite Radio, Fox News Rad...  View profile

14 Comments

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  • kevin7/15/2010

    I know it's hard for everone in america,but 99 weeks. thats almost 2 years.i currently on tier 2 and i actually haven't recieved one payment yet.Im like most americans watching c-span2 looking for a glimmer of hope for my situation.a lot of people do take advantageand thats one of the reasons why the republics(devils)dont want to extend benefits.im in the same position most of your are in.i kinda see their point,but there is no excuse for being heartless.

  • Pam6/28/2010

    It has been a horrifying weekend for me his weeek.I have currently turned my life around career wise going to school. I am suppose to graduate on the 23rd of Nov. 2010. And i also hve a gpa 4.0 and havent missed a day out of school. I havent received 99 weeks of unemployment. I just reach 52 weeks and they said i only have until Aug. I need to speak to someone very bad because what do i do just walk out of my apt with all the furniture in it? I have no one to help move me i stay along. I stay by myself and hve been in thek same apt for 15 years. My grandparents raised me but both at 96 have just recently passed away. I am not asking you all to take care of me forever. I just need to graduate in Aug and they in turn help locate me a job so i can pay back this 20.000 dollars i have to pay back because it is a loan. So i really do need all the support i can receive from you for a tier 4 and 5 just for at least for 6more months. There are many more people out there that need your help

  • GET REAL!!6/22/2010

    Listen, I work DIRECTLY with thousands of unemployed folks every single day. The sad part is that at least halt of them DO NO WANT TO WORK!!! Why? Because many of them see this as "pay back" towards an employer who either layed them off or terminated them. So many of the unemployed's plan is to NOT WORK as long as they can continue collecting unemployment. But who can live off of $300 per week you say? By the way, unemployment with the extra monthly gov't stipend totals up to a maximum of over $1400 per month! Many have adjusted their lifestyles to this amount and have started to take advantage of other "perks" available to those on unemployment. Perks such as government-subsidized reduced rent or mortgage payments, free child care, "food stamps", monthly utility vouchers, free education benefits, free public transit cards, and the list goes ON AND ON!!! So politicians are finally getting wind of this and it's why they are starting to become less sympathetic about extending benefits.

  • Nancy G in Tennessee6/22/2010

    and here we are again, just a waitin' for news from our lackadaisical Senate!
    for anyone who has not seen and signed the new petition for: 2010 Unemployment Benefits Extension sorely needed for anxious Americans, it is at: change.org http://www.change.org/petitions/view/2010_unemployment_benefits_extension_is_sorely_ needed_by_anxious_americans

  • William FT6/7/2010

    I hear you Rasheedah I have been unemployed that long myself, but I guess the tiers go back before we got dumped and we dont qualify for them. I HAD a friend that just ran out of benifits after TWO years and never even attempted to look for work. Thats where the tiers for us went. I cant believe we are being thrown under the bus. I wish I was a bank or an auto company.

  • Emily O6/7/2010

    You know.. they people who are making the rules dont' get it! Our government is not feeling the burn. The companies who laid of these 10 million people aren't really either. Maybe my senator will lend me their car when mine gets repo'd because I don't have unemployment benefits anymore. Or maybe I can bunk with them when I get foreclosed on because they couldn't extend unemployment greater than the 6 months required for a modification. Maybe.. we'll maybe is not good enough for anyone. Hello Senate - WAKE UP! I am not ever going to forget your decision!

  • Rasheedah6/7/2010

    I have just exhausted my regular uc benefits... why am I not entitled to all of my tiers like evryone else who has been unemployed since 2008... I've only been getting unemployment since November of 2009...

  • Tom5/24/2010

    i used up my 26 weeks already. I didnt even file for like 3 months once eligible.Even though it was my right to do so. I have an MBA and can't find work that pays even close to the 102,000 i made recently. So before people start in with the deadbeat stuff, you tell me what's better the 400.00 wk or 2500 a week?

  • Bethany R. Marsh5/22/2010

    Thanks for this info.

  • Carol Bengle Gilbert5/20/2010

    It is scary to think that we need more than 99 weeks of unemployment benefits. Nice writing.

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