General EB Discussion - Ongoing

MerryL,

Well I have to say that your situation is to the contrary of what we usually hear on this forum. Have you already exhausted tier4?I was surprised I had anything at all in EB account.....but God only knows where they came up with these figures at. Well i guess the best thing to do now is wait till "Crispy" Crist signs the bill and see what developes after that. I hope they are correct and you do have the greater amount coming.....but then again.....AWI has been known to overpay from time to time. It might be in your best interests right now to just hang on and see how this washes out...if you know what I mean.

Thanks Gonzo. yep. I exhausted tier 4 in March. i "joined" the wonderful world of unemployment in 7/08. Time flew!!

MerryL wrote:Gonzo, I called awi as well and got two different people yesterday and this morning, one being Miss Dixon. From my calculations, I should have not quite 2 weeks ( a few short of $540) left in EB account, which got lost in the tier transitioning fiasco. Both of these AWI reps said i have much more, $1044 or $1350 depending on who ya believe! I did the math again and they must be counting tier 4 amounts.
Don't get me wrong, I desperately, really really need money, but this is too much money! (never thought i'd be saying that! )

MerryL,

If the larger amount is correct, they are probably counting Tier 3 amounts. Whatever was subtracted from your Tier 3 from about the week of Nov 8 through til Jan 2 is what you have coming back, but only within the context of the Feb 27 OR end of your EUC until June 5.

I.e., AWI by Florida law (at least the way the state interpreted their own law) had to subtract from everyone's unused EB account any money coming in from the federal EUC tiers. So if for example, you started EB before or on Nov 8, and would have had 8 weeks of EB left, then you would have had 8 weeks subtracted from your new EUC Tier 3 account and paid back into your EB account, which went into limbo on Jan 2, until the federal and state extensions went through.

I hope it works out to be the bigger dollar number for you!

MerryL wrote:Gonzo, I called awi as well and got two different people yesterday and this morning, one being Miss Dixon. From my calculations, I should have not quite 2 weeks ( a few short of $540) left in EB account, which got lost in the tier transitioning fiasco. Both of these AWI reps said i have much more, $1044 or $1350 depending on who ya believe! I did the math again and they must be counting tier 4 amounts.
Don't get me wrong, I desperately, really really need money, but this is too much money! (never thought i'd be saying that! )

Since the Fl system was not updated before Tier 3 went into effect, AWI continued to pay EB benefits beyond Nov.9,2009 and then deducted the EB from the Tier3 amount calculated for each claimant. Whatever was deducted from Tier3 (if this applies to you) is what will be paid when 1736 is signed. Other factors may qualify you for more or less. If they deducted 2 weeks of pd EB from Tier3 & you still had $540.00 left in the EB account, the total could be around 1140.00. I don't know if the extra $25.00 per week is included.

i emailed mrs.dixon and she told me i had 526.00 left over from the old eb and i would get that when crist signs the bill and thats all i would get from it.. happy to get 526.00 (god knows i could use it) but that still does not really help when thats gone then it is back to stress and lots of nights with out sleep.. ben going through this since may 0f 08............hope our gov intacts something a lil longer for all of us....

Thanks everyone. Mrs. Dixon is like Santa! I just talked to 2 people who also were told their EB accounts are not empty!
Pyrox, yeah, I feel like you. stress is killing my health, among other things. i lost my sense of humor last year and that always got me thru anything.

I got 2400 deducted from EB. I went off of tier 4 in march, so I know no matter what I won't get anything. But gee, would have been nice to get the 2400.

Sheila wrote:I got 2400 deducted from EB. I went off of tier 4 in march, so I know no matter what I won't get anything. But gee, would have been nice to get the 2400.

The current timeframe for AWI to refund the EB $$ they deducted from Tier3 is from whenever your Tier4 benefits expired to June 5 if the Governor signs SB1736. That should make you eligible to receive at least 9 weeks of retroactive EB. If you were receiving the max benefit $2400 is still less than 9 weeks of benefits. Make sure you email Gov. Crist urging him to sign SB1736.

Crist has until May 26 to sign 1736 and he tends to wait until the last minute. My EB acc't would also see a nice chunk of change, but i'm not sure how retroactive works when u have some income (projects/consulting $$)

P.S.: Merry, exercise can zap some stress. or hard drugs.

Will most exhaustees get 9 weeks? Or do they somehow vary?

I'm not getting this...as per usual...

studioWI wrote:Will most exhaustees get 9 weeks? Or do they somehow vary?

I'm not getting this...as per usual...

Think of it this way, using hypothetical numbers:

1) Take whatever number of weeks you would normally have been eligible for EB; let's say for example that number is the maximum, or 20 weeks. That's the grand total you could potentially get under any circumstances for 2009-2010. But the laws have to correspond to time periods when you can actually collect those weeks.

2) Count the number of weeks (if any) that you got EB in 2009 before Tier 3 went into effect. Let's say for example you started EB in October and used 4 weeks before Tier 3 became law at the start of November.

20 minus 4 = 16 potentially left.

2) Count the number of weeks (if any) that you got in EB from Jan 2 to Feb 27, when the state passed its first brief extension. Not many people were eligible for that, so let's say you got no weeks for that.

16 minus 0 = 16

3) Count the number of weeks from the date you exhausted Tier 4 benefits until June 5. As an example, let's say you exhausted Tier 4 last week. There are only two weeks left from that date until June 5.

Since you still have 16 potential weeks in your account, you can use two of those weeks as soon as the law is signed and in effect (since the law is retroactive to Feb 27 OR the last week of your Tier 4, whichever is later).

16 minus 2 = 14 weeks still potentially eligible

BUT you will never get those extra 14 weeks unless Congress and Florida actually passes another extension of the law, which for Florida probably won't happen if at all until next year!

Substitute your own numbers. If you normally get only half the maximum, for example, then start with 10 weeks and subtract whatever numbers apply. If you used up all those ten weeks already, you're done. On the other hand, if you finished Tier 4 way back at the end of February and you never got any EB at all before that (you'd know, you would have had to report detailed job searches online), then you would qualify for all those ten weeks, since you would fall within that 14 week timeframe within which the state is actually paying benefits.

Is this any way to run a country?

nancym wrote: BUT you will never get those extra 14 weeks unless Congress and Florida actually passes another extension of the law, which for Florida probably won't happen if at all until next year!

What is the US congress voting on this week? Is it only about extending the eligibility deadline for EUC? Are they not also considering extending the funding for EB?

Steve_ wrote:

nancym wrote: BUT you will never get those extra 14 weeks unless Congress and Florida actually passes another extension of the law, which for Florida probably won't happen if at all until next year!

What is the US congress voting on this week? Is it only about extending the eligibility deadline for EUC? Are they not also considering extending the funding for EB?

EB bill finally signed !!!! So you can collect any EB you're eligible for through week ending June 5!

Governor Crist’s Bill Actions Today, May 17, 2010

Governor Charlie Crist signed the following bills today, May 17, 2010:

CS/CS SB 1736 Unemployment Compensation

Sara,
Here's the link to the release

http://www.flgov.com/release/11600 Now let's see how long it takes AWI to issue the payments.

Steve_ wrote:

nancym wrote: BUT you will never get those extra 14 weeks unless Congress and Florida actually passes another extension of the law, which for Florida probably won't happen if at all until next year!

What is the US congress voting on this week? Is it only about extending the eligibility deadline for EUC? Are they not also considering extending the funding for EB?

I'm not sure which bill has an extension of the 100% funding of the ARRA for state EB, but it doesn't matter if Congress votes that in or not, as far as Florida goes. The amendment to SB 1736 that would have given Floridians the ability to collect unused EB beyond June 5, pending Congressional action failed last month, so the Florida cutoff is only what was contained in the other amendment, June 5. So legislators went home knowing that they would not return to consider any other EB legislation until next year's session! Local NELP advocates had been working to try to get that passed, but our Republican majority couldn't bring themselves to vote for it.

Even if Crist calls for a special session for other issues, it's probably unlikely that they would spend time on a new EB bill. Gotta get back to the business of running for election, ya know.

Nancy, You have me very confused. This is who the release says the bill will benefit:
· Those who previously received EB and still have EB entitlement could receive up to 20 weeks, which would include weeks previously paid.

· Those who have exhausted all regular and federal Emergency Unemployment Compensation (EUC) benefits, or will exhaust all benefits prior to June 5, 2010, could receive up to 14 weeks of benefits, depending on the date they exhaust EUC benefits.

· The legislation does not provide for EB entitlement remaining on claims after June 5, 2010.

I hae a call in to Melody for personal clarification & will let you know what response I get.

Well I called and spoke with Cassandra this morning and she told me I used up all of my EB so while I'm glad for the rest of ya'all this legislation does nothing for me. One would think in light of the fact that this crummy state has one of the highest unemployment rates in the country they would've added a few extra weeks to get us by until the feds extend, if they ever do. I guess I'm a true 99er or exhausee or what ever you wish to call it.

grandmom49 wrote:Nancy, You have me very confused. This is who the release says the bill will benefit:
· Those who previously received EB and still have EB entitlement could receive up to 20 weeks, which would include weeks previously paid.

· Those who have exhausted all regular and federal Emergency Unemployment Compensation (EUC) benefits, or will exhaust all benefits prior to June 5, 2010, could receive up to 14 weeks of benefits, depending on the date they exhaust EUC benefits.

· The legislation does not provide for EB entitlement remaining on claims after June 5, 2010.

I hae a call in to Melody for personal clarification & will let you know what response I get.

I'm so sorry, grandmom. I admit sometimes I may post too much information that leads to confusion, but that was certainly not my intention.

What I posted is not at all in conflict with what is posted on the AWI site, but I will say that most AWI notices are made with a certain bureaucratic-legalese type of language that can easily be misread.

"· Those who previously received EB and still have EB entitlement could receive up to 20 weeks, which would include weeks previously paid." --I.e., "still have EB entitlement" means that you never used all 20 weeks, and "which would include weeks previously paid" meaning that any previously paid EB weeks would be subtracted from the total EB entitlement (which isn't necessarily 20 weeks, if you weren't eligible for max amounts).

· Those who have exhausted all regular and federal Emergency Unemployment Compensation (EUC) benefits, or will exhaust all benefits prior to June 5, 2010, could receive up to 14 weeks of benefits, depending on the date they exhaust EUC benefits. --meaning that only those who were without any benefits at all during those 14 new legislated weeks of EB "on" status for Florida--between Feb 27 and June 5-- could possibly get all 14 weeks now.

· The legislation does not provide for EB entitlement remaining on claims after June 5, 2010. --meaning what I said in my reply to Steve--that even if you never got all your EB benefit weeks and if you qualify to use only some of them in this 14 week timeframe, there is no Florida legislation that will allow anyone anyhow to claim for any weeks beyond June 5.

I sure hope you get something out of this extension, grandmom! Thanks for keeping us updated on the recent tracking of the bill.

nancym wrote:

grandmom49 wrote:Nancy, You have me very confused. This is who the release says the bill will benefit:
· Those who previously received EB and still have EB entitlement could receive up to 20 weeks, which would include weeks previously paid.

· Those who have exhausted all regular and federal Emergency Unemployment Compensation (EUC) benefits, or will exhaust all benefits prior to June 5, 2010, could receive up to 14 weeks of benefits, depending on the date they exhaust EUC benefits.

· The legislation does not provide for EB entitlement remaining on claims after June 5, 2010.

I hae a call in to Melody for personal clarification & will let you know what response I get.

I'm so sorry, grandmom. I admit sometimes I may post too much information that leads to confusion, but that was certainly not my intention.

What I posted is not at all in conflict with what is posted on the AWI site, but I will say that most AWI notices are made with a certain bureaucratic-legalese type of language that can easily be misread.

"· Those who previously received EB and still have EB entitlement could receive up to 20 weeks, which would include weeks previously paid." --I.e., "still have EB entitlement" means that you never used all 20 weeks, and "which would include weeks previously paid" meaning that any previously paid EB weeks would be subtracted from the total EB entitlement (which isn't necessarily 20 weeks, if you weren't eligible for max amounts).

· Those who have exhausted all regular and federal Emergency Unemployment Compensation (EUC) benefits, or will exhaust all benefits prior to June 5, 2010, could receive up to 14 weeks of benefits, depending on the date they exhaust EUC benefits. --meaning that only those who were without any benefits at all during those 14 new legislated weeks of EB "on" status for Florida--between Feb 27 and June 5-- could possibly get all 14 weeks now.

· The legislation does not provide for EB entitlement remaining on claims after June 5, 2010. --meaning what I said in my reply to Steve--that even if you never got all your EB benefit weeks and if you qualify to use only some of them in this 14 week timeframe, there is no Florida legislation that will allow anyone anyhow to claim for any weeks beyond June 5.

I sure hope you get something out of this extension, grandmom! Thanks for keeping us updated on the recent tracking of the bill.

That is what I thought Nancy, and it looks like BAD news for me.

After claiming 2 weeks today, I only have 2 weeks left on Tier 4, and the last week will only be about $75. My last week will be the week ending Saturday May 29th, (or Sunday May 30th).

I never used any EB, but if my math is correct here, I will not be able to claim any of it either.

OK Now that makes sense. I did hear back from Melody & by the skin of my teeth I will qualify for the EB they paid me & then deducted from Tier3. I say the skin of my teeth, because the Census bureau called me for an enumerator position & I started about 3 wwks after my benefits ran out. So I will be able to claim for the 3 weeks retroactively to the weeks I had no benefits.
I also want to tell everyone that I sent an updated resume out today showing that I am employed and received a call within an hr asking me to come in for an interview. I had read somewhere that applications & resumes were being pre-screened by computer for certain keywords & dates of employment and only the resumes that met criteria entered by the hiring manager was being forwarded to them. If I am not hired for this position I am going to reformat my resume so it won't be so evident to a computer program that I have been unemployed for almost 2 yrs. I think that is something all of you should consider.

Steve_ wrote:

nancym wrote:

grandmom49 wrote:Nancy, You have me very confused. This is who the release says the bill will benefit:
· Those who previously received EB and still have EB entitlement could receive up to 20 weeks, which would include weeks previously paid.

· Those who have exhausted all regular and federal Emergency Unemployment Compensation (EUC) benefits, or will exhaust all benefits prior to June 5, 2010, could receive up to 14 weeks of benefits, depending on the date they exhaust EUC benefits.

· The legislation does not provide for EB entitlement remaining on claims after June 5, 2010.

I hae a call in to Melody for personal clarification & will let you know what response I get.

I'm so sorry, grandmom. I admit sometimes I may post too much information that leads to confusion, but that was certainly not my intention.

What I posted is not at all in conflict with what is posted on the AWI site, but I will say that most AWI notices are made with a certain bureaucratic-legalese type of language that can easily be misread.

"· Those who previously received EB and still have EB entitlement could receive up to 20 weeks, which would include weeks previously paid." --I.e., "still have EB entitlement" means that you never used all 20 weeks, and "which would include weeks previously paid" meaning that any previously paid EB weeks would be subtracted from the total EB entitlement (which isn't necessarily 20 weeks, if you weren't eligible for max amounts).

· Those who have exhausted all regular and federal Emergency Unemployment Compensation (EUC) benefits, or will exhaust all benefits prior to June 5, 2010, could receive up to 14 weeks of benefits, depending on the date they exhaust EUC benefits. --meaning that only those who were without any benefits at all during those 14 new legislated weeks of EB "on" status for Florida--between Feb 27 and June 5-- could possibly get all 14 weeks now.

· The legislation does not provide for EB entitlement remaining on claims after June 5, 2010. --meaning what I said in my reply to Steve--that even if you never got all your EB benefit weeks and if you qualify to use only some of them in this 14 week timeframe, there is no Florida legislation that will allow anyone anyhow to claim for any weeks beyond June 5.

I sure hope you get something out of this extension, grandmom! Thanks for keeping us updated on the recent tracking of the bill.

That is what I thought Nancy, and it looks like BAD news for me.

After claiming 2 weeks today, I only have 2 weeks left on Tier 4, and the last week will only be about $75. My last week will be the week ending Saturday May 29th, (or Sunday May 30th).

I never used any EB, but if my math is correct here, I will not be able to claim any of it either.

Steve, If the federal deadline is extended through the end of the year (everyone say pretty Please, pass that legislation) then we can start lobbying Talahassee to do the same and you (and thousands more) will be able to collect the EB if necessary. I hope we all find viable jobs so it won't be necessary for any of us to try and survive on the meager benefits Florida pays in unemployment.

Hi Grandmom49,

That's one of the reasons I was asking what it was congress is voting on. If it just extending the deadline for EUC, or also for extending the 100% federally funded EB program. I understand that if EB was extended, Florida's Legislature would still have to approve it. What I didn't know was that it wouldn't happen till next year, (if at all). I mean what the heck, is Florida's legislature off till next year?

Glad to hear that at least some of you here are getting a few crumbs from the new Florida legislation, sad to hear of those who don't qualify.

Steve--

Yes, it's true, this giant and diverse state of Florida has intentionally limited government and a part-time legislature.

http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20090303122202AAWFCvH

Did you ever wonder why if you watched those sessions on the Internet why they zipped so quickly through all those bills as if they were in a race? It's because the yearly session is only two months long, and god forbid that any of them should have to suffer the indignity of having to stay longer for an extended session!

On top of that, and this is purely my personal opinion, they are limited to two years in the House. So we have new and largely inexperienced reps every session who barely have time to learn where the bathrooms are, much less craft meaningul legislation, before the whole thing is over for another year.

Special sessions can be called by the governor or by majority consent or whatever (see link), but how much would you bet that a special session would be called for extending EB, when they couldn't even get the amendment that would have done that automatically passed just weeks ago!!

Can someone post Mrs. Dixon's email address. I have searched everywhere and can't find it. It is also not listed in the contacts section.

Thank you so much. Would really appreciate it.

Rosemary

glondetra.dixon @ flaawi.com