Why aren't our elected Ohio officials helping us get this extra help? Write them to ask them..this is a desperate plea for unemployed Ohioians...

From the National Employment Law Project
For Immediate Release: March 20, 2009
Press Contact only: Tim Bradley, 646-452-5637
Workers contact: unemployedworkers@gmail.com
Over ½ Million Workers to Exhaust Benefits in March & April if
States Don’t Act
13-20 Weeks Federally-Funded Extension of Benefits Available in Stimulus
for High-Unemployment States
Washington, DC – New analysis released today by the National Employment Law Project
revealed that 567,000 jobless Americans will exhaust their federal unemployment benefits in the
coming weeks if their states do not authorize a temporary extension of benefits provided for in the
federal economic recovery package. Available to all states with unemployed rates above 6.5%,
the Extended Benefits program would provide an additional 13-20 weeks of benefits to workers
who have already used up their Emergency Unemployment Compensation (EUC) benefits. Of the
states whose unemployment rates are high enough to trigger the extensions – which are now
being funded 100% by the federal government under the stimulus bill – only about half have
passed the necessary authorization to receive the funds.
“Over half a million jobless workers will run out of unemployment benefits in March and April if
their states do not act now,” said Christine Owens, Executive Director of the National
Employment Law Project. “The Extended Benefits program is a straightforward, federallyfunded
extension to continue benefits for workers in high-unemployment states who have already
run out of emergency unemployment compensation. These benefits would come to very longterm
unemployed workers who still can’t find work after receiving all of their EUC benefits. This is
the only provision in the stimulus bill that addresses the needs of these long-term jobless
workers, and states should not overlook it,” Owens stated.
The Extended Benefits program, started in the 1970s, pays extended benefits in high
unemployment states and allows states different options for tapping into the program. One option
is for states to provide these benefits once their unemployment level exceeds 6.5% over a threemonth
period. While the cost for paying these extended benefits would normally be split 50-50
between states and the federal government, under the American Recovery and Reinvestment
Act, the extended benefit is fully federal-funded through 2009. Only a fraction of states, however,
have adopted the 6.5% trigger provision.
• States that have yet to act to receive Extended Benefits: Approximately 567,000
workers would qualify for Extended Benefits after exhausting their EUC benefits if 14
high-unemployment states, as well as the Virgin Islands and the District of Columbia,
adopted the 6.5% unemployment rate trigger. As of March 19th, those states are:
Alabama, Arizona, California, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Kentucky, Maine, Massachusetts,
Mississippi, Missouri, New York, Ohio, and Tennessee.
• States that have yet to act to get 20 weeks Extended Benefits: In places where the
unemployment rate exceeds 8% – Indiana, Michigan, Nevada, Puerto Rico, and South
Carolina – workers will be entitled to an additional 7 weeks of extended benefits if their
states authorize the trigger, affecting approximately 132,000 workers.
• States that already qualify for 13 weeks Extended Benefits: Sixteen states and
Puerto Rico already qualify for the Extended Benefits program under one of the
program’s provisions: Idaho, Indiana, Michigan, Montana, Nevada, New Jersey,
Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Wisconsin, Alaska, Connecticut, Minnesota, North
Carolina, and Washington qualify for 13 weeks of benefits. Oregon and Rhode Island
already qualify for 20 weeks of extended benefits. As a result, about 405,000 workers in
those states will qualify for extended benefits when their EUC benefits expire between
now and June.
• Who benefits: A total of nearly 1 million workers – over 970,000 – who will run out of
federal emergency extensions (EUC) by June will qualify for an extension of jobless
benefits under the extended benefits program if all states enact it.
• The urgency to act: In all high-unemployment states, the federally-funded extended
benefits will be available to all private sector workers – 95% of the unemployment
insurance case load – who exhaust EUC and begin their extended benefits in 2009.
States have the option to sunset the legislation in late 2009, after which the 100% federal
funding provision expires.
“Many states have overlooked this unique chance to help long term jobless workers and funnel
more federal stimulus into their economies. They need to act now because time is of the essence:
thousands of workers will run out of jobless benefits in a matter of weeks. It would be a shame –
and devastating for thousands of workers – if states sit on their hands,” Owens concluded.
For more information on the Extended Benefits program, including a state-by-state breakdown of
the potential impact the program would have around the country, view NELP’s Extended Benefits
analysis: http://www.nelp.org/page/-/UI/extended.benefits.feb.09.pdf?nocdn=1
Workers can find out whether their state qualifies for EB under the different “trigger” formulas at
the U.S. Department of Labor at http://ows.doleta.gov/unemploy/claims_arch.asp under
“Extended Benefits Trigger Notice.”