The U.S. Senate’s rejection last week of extended emergency benefits for the unemployed is forcing a new round of maneuvers that Michigan officials yet hope will provide relief to jobless workers and state coffers.
The emergency benefits were triggered in 2008 and expanded in last year's economic stimulus package. The benefits provide an average of $309 a week for up to 99 weeks to people who have exhausted their state unemployment assistance. The benefits expired June 2, and an estimated 1.2 million workers have since had their checks cut off, according to the Labor Department. Unless Congress acts, the program will expire by the end of October.
Here at home, the Michigan Unemployment Insurance Agency estimates that 87,000 people will exhaust their jobless benefits by July 3, a number that could double by the end of July. The agency said that by year’s end the number of people who will be affected by the expiration of federal UI benefit extensions will exceed the 408,000 that are currently collecting state or federally funded unemployment benefits.
In addition to extending emergency unemployment benefits through November, the package rejected by the Senate last Thursday would have provided state governments with $16 billion in additional Medicaid funds, money that some 30 states are counting on to balance their 2011 budgets. It also would have extended expired tax breaks for businesses and individuals, including a tax credit for research and development that is prized by some of the nation's largest companies.
On a press conference call Friday, Gov. Granholm (D) outlined what she says is at stake in the decisions from Washington. Unless the measure is revived, she said, Michigan will have to slice $500 million out of next year's budget, a sum that she said would force thousands of state layoffs and the potential elimination of state services such as long-term care or mental-health coverage. Programs that potentially could be affected include Medicaid prescription drug coverage, payments to Medicaid providers, mental health services, revenue sharing and university funding.
"Millions of people across the country are hoping for some relief," Granholm said, adding that governors are discussing a bipartisan lobbying campaign. "The line in the sand that's been drawn by Republicans on the floor of the U.S. Senate is nothing short of devastating for Michigan and people across the country."
Republicans have steadfastly opposed the bill, arguing that it would worsen an already record budget deficit, and insisted that the cost of the package be covered with cuts in existing programs. Some conservative Democrats have also expressed concerns about the impact of the package on the deficit, which has reached record levels amid the recession. Senate Democratic leaders announced Thursday that they were shelving effort for approval after all 40 GOP senators and Sen. Ben Nelson (D-Neb.) voted to block the latest version of their aid package.
However, a day after voting to block the Democratic legislation, a key Republican senator urged Democrats to try again, saying she would support a stripped-down bill aimed solely at guaranteeing unemployment checks to millions of people who have been out of work more than six months. Sen. Olympia Snowe (R-Maine), a moderate whose vote had been ardently courted by Democratics, sent a letter Friday to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (Nev.), arguing that the plight of the long-term unemployed must be swiftly addressed.
"The hundreds of thousands of unemployed Americans who are losing jobless benefits every week deserve our immediate attention," Snowe wrote, calling for "a free-standing extension of unemployment insurance benefits" to be brought to the Senate floor for a vote early next week. "Separating the unemployment insurance provisions [from numerous other provisions in the bill] and passing it as emergency legislation acknowledges the urgency of helping those who continue to look for work."
A spokesman for Reid chided Snowe’s suggestion based on her voting record and said she provides no evidence that any other Republicans support her proposal. In the House, however, Democrats appeared more receptive to a standalone bill. Senior aides said the idea was under discussion, and that a bill could be unveiled as soon as next week.
"It really has to happen," said House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (Calif.) said of reauthorizing extended benefits in an interview Friday with Huffington Post. Even if the House were to act, however, it is unclear whether the Senate could push through an emergency bill before the July 4 recess.
No comments:
Post a Comment