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IBEW Calls on Senate to Extend Jobless Benefits

February 19, 2010

Time is running out for jobless workers. Funding for federal unemployment insurance for the long-term unemployed and COBRA subsidies to help laid-off workers maintain their health-care benefits is set to expire by Feb. 28.

The House of Representatives passed a jobs bill in December that includes unemployment and COBRA extensions, but the issue is still under debate in the Senate.

With long-term unemployment levels continuing to rise, defending the unemployment safety net is more important than ever for the nearly 15 million Americans without a job.

The cost of letting existing

unemployment benefits expire would be substantial for local communities – leading to increased home foreclosures, more financial strain on local and state authorities and less money going back into the economy. Nearly 40 percent of the unemployed have been out-of-work for six months or longer.

Says IBEW International President Ed Hill in a letter to lawmakers:

Extending jobless assistance is about more than the unemployed.  As recently documented by the Congressional Budget Office, UI provides one of the most significant economic boosts of any recovery policy being considered by Congress.  Every dollar in UI assistance provides $1.90 in economic activity and is expected to create 800,000 jobs in 2010.

The IBEW is calling on Congress to pass a one-year extension of unemployment benefits and COBRA.

Click here to tell your senator to take action and extend jobless benefits.

Photo used under a Creative Commons license from Flickr user aflcio2008.