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Ryan, House Dems Urge Vote on Jobless Benefits
WASHINGTON -- U.S. Rep. Tim Ryan, D-13 Ohio, joined 165 of his Democratic House colleagues Wednesday in signing a letter to House Speaker John Boehner urging him to bring an extension of federal unemployment benefits to the House floor for a vote.
Benefits are scheduled to expire Dec. 28, cutting jobless aid to 1.3 million Americans immediately, and an additional 1.9 million Americans will lose their federal unemployment insurance during the first six months of 2014, according to the Democrats.
“Passage of this bill will make a difference to over three million Americans, including almost 88,000 Ohioans,” said Ryan in a statement released by his office. “As it stands now, three days after Christmas 1.3 million Americans will lose their unemployment insurance if the House does not act. Speaker Boehner and House Republicans must realize that people still have to pay for gas, groceries, and mortgages. Going home for the holidays without passing this critical legislation at a time when so many are in need is callous and un-American.”
Here is the text of the letter to Boehner:
Dear Speaker Boehner:
We write to urge you to address the looming expiration of unemployment benefits for millions of Americans before adjourning Congress for the remainder of the year. Without swift Congressional action, 1.3 million jobless workers will have their benefits cut off on December 28th, and nearly another 1.9 million will lose their unemployment benefits over the first half of next year. This would not only be a devastating blow for millions of Americans who are already struggling, but it would also hurt our economy.
The Emergency Unemployment Compensation (EUC) program is scheduled to immediately and completely stop at the end of 2013, during the holiday season, with the last payable week ending on December 28th. All current EUC beneficiaries will lose their benefits, and individuals exhausting their limited state unemployment benefits will no longer be eligible for EUC benefits in 2014. This cutoff will affect over 3 million Americans over the next six months, and thereby also negatively impact our economic growth. In fact, recent estimates indicate that the expiration of the EUC program would cost our economy 310,000 jobs and drain roughly four-tenths of a percentage point from first-quarter economic growth.
While unemployment benefits remain a critical lifeline for dislocated workers and their families, these benefits have recently been significantly scaled back. According to the Congressional Research Service, the total amount of weeks of unemployment benefits has dropped by more than a third across the states, and by more than 50 percent in some states, compared to two years ago. Furthermore, the recipients have seen their weekly benefit payment provided by the EUC program cut under sequestration.
Even with the progress our economy has seen since the depths of the recession, there are still 1.3 million fewer jobs today than when the recession started six years ago. Additionally, approximately 4 million Americans are considered long-term unemployed, and have been looking for work for more than six months. Now is certainly not the time to further decimate vital federal assistance to workers who have lost their job through no fault of their own and who must actively seek work in order to be eligible for unemployment benefits. We therefore strongly urge you to immediately bring up a one-year extension of the current EUC program.
Thank you for your attention to this critical issue.
Published by The Business Journal, Youngstown, Ohio.
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