I read somewhere an off-hand remark by a reader on a post somewhere concerning the writers seemingly misunderstanding of the legislative unemployment issue being discussed in the post. After carefully reading the post I realized that indeed, the writer wrote the article discussing the Tier V issue, and the issue of the unemployment benefits that are due to expire on November 30th, as if they were the same piece of legislation. This is what I intend to clear up now, they are separate issues.
Unemployment Benefits (UI)
In this package we have the standard 26 weeks of benefits supplied by most states, augmented with the first four tiers. The higher the unemployment rate is in your state determines the the level of tiers you will get. For example, in Arizona, with one of the highest unemployment rates in the U.S., all four levels are available, while in Oklahoma or Kansas, with much lower unemployment rates will receive fewer weeks of benefits. This system is hoped to be the main attention of our old and new delegates as soon as they convene for the lame duck session. These levels of benefits are due to expire on the 30th. If these benefits aren’t extended once again, about 2 million will lose their benefits by the end of the year.
Tier V
Senator Stabenow, (D-Mi) drafted a bill earlier this year that addresses the subject of a fifth tier to be added to existing extensions, which by the way, currently takes the amount of benefits available to 99. This act, the Americans Want To Work Act, would add another 20 weeks to the 99, and a few other add ins to the bill. It would also add a tax benefit for those employers that hire long-term unemployed people. There are other provisions also, but those are the subject of another discussion.
Someone also suggested, on the blog I was looking at, that probably most of our Representatives in Congress didn’t understand the difference either. If you believe this to be true, then write them emails, and letters directing them here, to clear the air for the people who need it, the Representatives and Senators representing us – we did, after all, just elect them to do just that.
