Unemployment Benefits Extension: Should the New Bill Extending Unemployment Benefits Pass This Week?

The deadline for passing a critical unemployment benefits extension came and went last Friday, allowing federal unemployment benefits created in the 2009 Stimulus Bill to end on Sunday, February 28, 2010. I say "critical" because for over 1.2 million unemployed American workers like me who will lose their unemployment benefits in March alone, the sudden loss of that financial lifeline could prove catastrophic.

In my case, having been unemployed for over a year and having exhausted all of my other resources, I simply have no means left to feed myself and my son if my unemployment benefits end. I stand to lose my car, my home of over 20 years and, with no where to keep them, all the possessions and family treasures I have accumulated. My child and I would end up literally homeless. Once I go down, it seems a lifetime of working and saving will just be lost, with little prospect of ever regaining anything near the salary level and position or the comfortable middle class lifestyle I had achieved - and it's very hard to cope with. With millions of other Americans in similar straits also counting on unemployment benefits to help them to just hang on until they can get back on their feet, and reading the tragic web posts of scores of them after the news of the failure to pass the needed extension last week, I can only conclude that a tsunami of additional bankruptcies, foreclosures, business failures, homelessness and utter despondency will be created if Congress fails to enact some kind of unemployment benefits extension soon. For many of us in this situation, the term "Great Depression" has far more meaning than just the economic condition it commonly refers to.

Fortunately, the Senate is not done. Most Senators support passage of an unemployment benefits extension bill. According to CNN News, "This even includes Senator Jim Bunning (R-KY), who's argument about the source of funding for the bill was the sticking point that prevented passage of the short term extension last week. He argued that the $10 billion needed for the short term unemployment benefits extension should come from available funds rather than add to the deficit.

Since then, however, according to an article by WebCPA, on Monday, March 1, 2010, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) and Senator Max Baucus (D-Mont) introduced a more sweeping bill known as the "American Workers, State and Business Relief Act". This bill is much better news anyway, both to those of us who are unemployed and who lost our benefit extension eligibility on February 28 as well as to the employment offices around the country who must handle our claims and notifications and deal with our calls, letters and desperate visits. While the bill before the Senate last week was only for a one month extension, this bill is far more comprehensive and proposes, among other things, to restore eligibility for the unemployment benefits extensions to those of us whose benefits ended, running retroactively from February 28 all the way until December 31, 2010! Although there could be a difficult gap in time before the bill is fully enacted and the retroactive claims are processed and delivered, the relief of knowing that I won't have to go through this uncertainty in another month and then, perhaps again and again in this manner, is certainly worth it to me. Further, if this extension passes, Employment Development staff all over the country will not be further burdened by having to process letters and notices and deal with the barrage of anxious unemployment recipients over and over again as Congress starts and stops unemployment benefits over the months ahead.

There may well continue to be debate over how this larger, more comprehensive $70 billion dollar estimated cost of this new bill will be paid for, as there always should be when Congress is spending Americans' money. But I, as a long term unemployed American who is already suffering in this horrible economy, am hopeful that Congress will work through their differences to pass the new bill this week and any gap in benefits will be made up quickly so I and the hundreds of thousands of others like me will have a chance of making it. I believe the Senate is now aware of how critical this unemployment benefits extension is to so many millions of suffering Americans and how politically unwise it would be to delay its passage any longer.

If you find yourself in this situation or care about others who may be experiencing it, please call your Senators and encourage them to vote for the unemployment benefits extension to make sure it passes this week.

Sources:

CNN News, "Democrats Rip GOP Senator for blocking jobless benefits extension".

Mike Lillis, "Dems Latest Unemployment Extension Unveiled", Washington Independent.

WebCPA Staff, "Senate Introduces Unemployment and Tax Extenders Bill", WebCPA