It seems we’ve been here before: unemployment hovering around 10%, restlessness about the economy, gridlock in Congress on issues that affect a broad range of people agree on, and, most tragically, millions of Americans wondering if their federal unemployment benefits are going to run out. Indeed, without Congressional action, federal unemployment benefits under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA; the stimulus bill) in February of 2009 will run out at the end of this month. Should they run out, more than 1 million people will lose their benefits; by June, that number could swell to 5 million.
Unfortunately, this is not the first time in the past year Congress has had millions of unemployed people worrying about their unemployment insurance; in October, weeks of failure in passing an extension before the original ARRA benefits ran out saw 7,000 people daily losing their benefits, never to be paid back. After much delay, an extension was signed into law on November 6th (which was passed by a 98-0 vote in the Senate, I might add), prolonging the measure 13 weeks, until late December, when unemployment benefits were again extended for 2 months through an amendment to the Department of Defense appropriations bill (you still with me?).
So, the time has come once again. Congress is waiting until the last minute (the current extension lasts until February 28th) to extend unemployment benefits. But, as this Huffington Post article points out, “it’s a huge administrative burden for state agencies” that give out unemployment benefits and must prepare to wind down federal benefits, as they don’t know when, or if, Congress will reauthorize them. It is our hope, of course, that they will. Send an e-mail to your representatives in Washington telling them to extend unemployment benefits through the end of the year so that families are not on the edge of their seats while Congress takes its time yet again.