Latest NELP Email 6/1

[Unemployed In Orlando]

For those who do not subscribe :

Friends -

Last Friday, the House of Representatives finally held a vote on HR 4213, the bill that at one point, contained an extension of the filing deadline for federal UI programs (Emergency Unemployment Compensation, Federal Additional Compensation, and the full federal funding of Extended Benefits) through the end of the year, and an extension of the COBRA subsidy also through the end of the year. Unfortunately, over the course of the last two weeks, however, that bill was stripped down on many occasions, taking out and paring down programs left and right in order to satisfy the ever-growing concerns over the budget deficit.
What's most disturbing is that comments from a number of members of Congress made it clear that too many in Washington are wavering in their commitment to helping families survive this terrible job market. So more than just this extension is at stake - it's the very commitment of our nation to helping the unemployed.

As a result, by the time the bill hit the House floor for a vote, the extension of the UI programs only ran though the end of November, and the COBRA subsidy was dropped altogether. And the Senate recessed on Thursday night, so they were not around to pass this bill later on Friday or over the weekend, so yet again, we are facing at least a temporary lapse of the federal UI programs and COBRA subsidy.

All of us at NELP are devastated by the recent turn of events, in particular, the growing belief that Congress can EITHER work on job creation and supporting the unemployed OR reducing the deficit. We do not believe this is an either/or choice and NELP is going to be working very hard with our allied organizations and all of you to re-shape the dialogue and help convince Members of Congress that focusing on the jobs part of the economic recovery is the BEST way to deal with our deficit problems.

Before telling you about what comes next, we want to provide a bit of information to answer questions many of you must be asking:

· If you are ALREADY receiving the COBRA subsidy, you will be able to keep receiving it, at least through the end of this year.
· If you are in the middle of a tier of EUC, you will be able to finish that tier. However, you will not be able to move on to your next available tier of EUC unless Congress extends the filing deadline again.

· If your state permanently participates in the EB program, and you are currently receiving EBs, you will also continue to receive those. The states with a permanent EB trigger are: AK, CT, KS, MN, NH, NJ, NM, NC, OR, RI, VT and WA.

· Finally, if you are in a state that permanently participates in the EB program and your EUC tier ends before Congress reauthorizes the programs, you will then start receiving EBs.


So, what's next? Well, Congress is on recess this week, so there will be no official activity on the bill this week. But this is good - it gives all of us time to start fighting to improve the bill in the Senate. NELP will be leading the charge to get the COBRA subsidy put back into the bill before the Senate votes on it, so that those who are newly unemployed in this still-terrible job market can have a better chance of being able to maintain their personal health insurance for themselves and their families. And we know there are going to be problems with a number of Senators who are uncertain about their support for the bill for a variety of reasons (for example, some think it's still too expensive, others are upset about things that were cut, and still others don't like some of the tax provisions that are in unrelated parts of the bill).

So this week, it's very important that all of you contact your own Senators with a consistent message: abandoning the unemployed will NOT help cure the deficit problems, it will only enhance those problems. The job market is still in really bad shape and they CANNOT abandon the unemployed when unemployment remains close to 10% and job creation is not yet consistent or robust You can use this link . . . . to make your voices heard.

We will likely be asking you to take action on a number of occasions over the next few weeks, and we will send you updates as frequently as we have new information to share.

Members of unemployedworkers.org are THE most motivated and responsive group of people out there - each time we send you requests to take action, over 50% of you do so, a return rate that is practically unheard of by other groups engaging in on-line advocacy. Your voices are being heard and can effect policy in ways no one else can do, so please stay motivated and please take action whenever you can.

If you have additional questions please visit our Ask the Expert Page where you can find answers to commonly asked UI questions, you may send us your questions directly using our benefit question contact form.

As always, thanks for everything that you do.

Your friends at unemployedworkers.org

[UnemployedInFL]

Why doesn't NELP say anything about 99ers?

[connorsgp]

Nothing was said about the 99er's because Congress has absolutely no intention of adding weeks/tiers or any other assistance to those of us who have exhausted all benefits. We are being left in the lurch because every politician is afraid of not being re-elected due to our 13 trillion dollar deficit. What they fail to understand is the long term unemployed, with no safety net, will become a huge financial burden that politics cannot ignore..I.E. welfare, food stamps etc. So, unfortunately, if you are out of benefits the Congress will not help, the U.S. Senate might even fail to pass HR4213...even pared down, so the end of all Federal help is here...today.

[sc4ram]

A rehash of Speaker Pelosi's position from last week

http://politics.gather.com/viewArticle.action?articleId=281474978265153

[nancym]

Rep. Jim McDermott seems to be one of the few people in DC who understand any of this:

http://waysandmeans.house.gov/press/PRArticle.aspx?NewsID=11200

I saw something about this not happening til July, but bless his heart, it's coming up right away when they get back. Of course these hearings sometimes go nowhere, no matter how informative they are, and still a bill can't get through committee. But at least he's trying.

Somehow I think maybe that bit about what will happen with the long termers that Carolyn Maloney of New York brought up recently may have got some people's attention. She reported that a recent analysis showed that if no help was provided for the long term unemployed who were disabled, who have the most insanely high unemployment rate, about two-thirds of them would probably turn to SSI disability, and that bill would amount to about $24 BILLION, instead of the millions needed to keep those people attached to the workforce. It would behoove the federal government to figure out the best way to spend money to help people, otherwise in the end they will end up spending far more than for the EUC tiers!

[Jeff]

That's encouraging news. Thanks nancym. I'm pretty sure that McDermott was responsible for starting Tier 3 in the House and fast tracking it to the senate.

[pyrox]

Pres. Obama announced an additional $400 million in aid to Gaza at a meeting with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas ...

he can talk with a foreign leader and pledge our tax money to them, but he does not have the balls to address the american people and all the 99'ers.

[sc4ram]

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21134540/vp/37602850#37602850

[sc4ram]

Just heard House Maj Leader Steny Hoyer on ABC's "This Week" in response to the President's emergency request of the Congress Saturday nite for additional funds to deal with the Gulf oil spill. When he was chastised by the Minority Leader (John Boener) about how this request was sent out of the blue to the House with with no off- setting budget cuts (and this was more of the same out of control spending) , Leader Hoyer responded by saying that they could apply unspent funds from the Stimulus Package.

I mention this because in the budget fights over the previous EUC funding extensions, the Dems always said this money was off limits (I think Sen Durbin D-Illinois once said it was "allocated" but not spent and couldnt be applied to EUC)

Looks like the oil spill is the key to this slush fund lock box.

[Jeff]

Just heard House Maj Leader Steny Hoyer on ABC's "This Week" in response to the President's emergency request of the Congress Saturday nite for additional funds to deal with the Gulf oil spill. When he was chastised by the Minority Leader (John Boener) about how this request was sent out of the blue to the House with with no off- setting budget cuts (and this was more of the same out of control spending) , Leader Hoyer responded by saying that they could apply unspent funds from the Stimulus Package.

I mention this because in the budget fights over the previous EUC funding extensions, the Dems always said this money was off limits (I think Sen Durbin D-Illinois once said it was "allocated" but not spent and couldnt be applied to EUC)

Looks like the oil spill is the key to this slush fund lock box.

I watched that too. First it was off limits. Now it's not. hmm. Maybe it's partly a: if anyone's gonna say where it applies, it's Democrats who'll do the saying.

[sc4ram]

Could be Jeff, my personal speculation is the delay in years of spending all of the stimulus money, was to facilitate the distribution of "walking around" money to be spread about at election time.

[Unemployed In Orlando]

Latest NELP email for those who do not subscribe :

Dear Friends -

We've begun another legislative week, and one in which we hope that the Senate will conclude action on HR 4213, the bill that would extend eligibility for the federal unemployment programs (Emergency Unemployment Compensation, Federal Additional Compensation, and full funding of Extended Benefits) through November 2010. This has turned out to be a much harder fight that we anticipated, and it's dragging on longer than we know is ideal for those of you who are seeing the premature end of your benefits.

When the House considered the bill a few weeks ago, out of the need to get the overall price of the bill down so that a majority of Members would vote for it, they stripped out the COBRA subsidy, as well as important money for state Medicaid programs, and scaled back the eligibility for the UI programs from end of December, to end of November. As horrifying as these cuts were, we were lucky to not have lost more - more and more Members are beginning to think that it's time to start scaling back these programs in general, and we are fighting that tooth and nail.

When the bill came to the Senate, the Medicaid money was restored, and we are leading a fight to restore the COBRA subsidy. Senator Bob Casey of Pennsylvania has been our champion and he is waging a great fight. 24 Senators have agreed to co-sponsor the amendment, and we and a number of other advocates have been working to both gain more co-sponsors and shore up support among the moderate Senators on both sides of the aisle, but we still do not have a clear sense that we can reach the magic 60 votes to get the subsidy restored. But we are not going down without a hard fight because we want to not just protect the subsidy, but make the message loud and clear that it is too soon to be cutting back support for the unemployed.

Yet again, we need you to make your voice heard and contact your Senator telling him or her to vote YES on the COBRA subsidy and even more importantly, to vote YES on HR 4213 and be sure that unemployment benefits stay up and running for the millions of long term unemployed.

Lastly, continue to keep up the good work. Your support is greatly appreciated!

Sincerly,

Your Friends at unemployedworkers.org

[sc4ram]

http://thehill.com/blogs/on-the-money/domestic-taxes/103433-reid-withdraws-cloture-vote-aiming-for-trimmed-down-version

[sc4ram]

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100616/ap_on_bi_ge/us_congress_spending

[sc4ram]

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100618/ap_on_bi_ge/us_congress_spending

[Steve_]

Just saw this article, ad thought I would pass it on. Hope I have posted in the correct forum.




http://www.allyourtv.com/tier_5_unemployment_extension.txt?option=com_content&view=article&id=1372:best-chance-for-unemployment-extension-including-tier-5-is-a-standalone-bill&catid=118:how-the-media-covers-the-long-term-unemployed&Itemid=46



Commentary: Best Chance For Unemployment Extension (Including Tier 5) Is A Standalone Bill


If America's long-term unemployed have learned one thing in the past few months, it's that given the chance, a number of Senate Republicans are likely to stand in the way of extending unemployment benefits.

Some of the reservations have to do with fiscal policy, some of it has to do with pure political calculations. But time and time again, a few Senate Republicans have continued to throw legislative roadblocks in front of any bill that hopes to extend unemployment benefits to the millions of Americans who have been unemployed for longer than six months.

The opponents of unemployment extensions have succeeded in part because the extensions have been rolled into "jobs" bills that include all sorts of tax breaks and other stimulus ideas. That mix of ideas not only increases the overall costs of the bill, but it makes it much easier to oppose the bill on grounds that have little to do with unemployment. Opponents have been able to block passage by arguing that they're not saying "no" to the unemployed. They are saying no to COBRA help, or Medicare rembursement changes or any other part of the bill that is politically easier to oppose.

I've spoken with a number of legislators and staffers over the past few weeks and an idea has been percolating in the Senate hallways that makes a lot of sense to me. Create a bill with nothing but an unemployment extension in it. Extend the filing deadlines through the end of the year, add an additional 13 weeks of benefits for those people who have exhausted their coverage and include a statement that "because the economy is improving, we believe this is the last extension we shall need."

While the plan would involve passing the bill through the House and the Senate, in some ways it is not just a helpful bill for the unemployed, but also for Democrats. The bill would force Republicans to vote yes or no on extending unemployment benefits. And many people I spoke with thought that prospect would encourage some Republicans facing difficult challenges in November to support the bill.

So this might be the time for a renewed effort by the unemployed to reach out to the media and their legislators. Citizen-organized efforts in the past few months have convinced many in the media and on The Hill that the need exists for extended unemployment benefits. Now is the time to show them a way to get the job done.

Rick Ellis>
rick@allyourtv.com

[sc4ram]

Rick-

I appreciate your enthuiastic support for a unemployment benefit extension and a Tier V. I think your idea of a stand alone bill is a good one. (If such a bill ever got to the floor I think it would pass on a up or down vote)

I would take slight issue with your thesis that there hasnt been a bill due to Republicans in the Senate. First, the last time I checked the Democratic caucus in the Senate had a 59-41 majority. Although not fillibuster proof, I hold the leadership with the majority responsible for moving legislation thru the Senate. (Unless you can show me a strait party line vote 59-41 against a fillibuster, the last vote on the extension several Democrats voted against.)

As much as i dont like it there are legit bugetary concerns on new deficit spending IMO. Being unemployed is bad enough without the country sliding into some financial crisis like Greece.

The Democrats have had serval missed opportunities to call the bluff of the Republicans (inc using the paid back tarp money to be applied to EUC benefits which the repubs said they would support) . But the party in charge said no. (Then their House Maj leader said this past weekend they could spend some of that money on the Gulf oil spill) If i was trying to apply some partisian logic here I would say the Dems are holding up progress on EUC funding. I think if the vote came to 59 votes for, they could peel off enough rebubs to pass the bill . (If you recall thats what happened the last time funding was extended)

Im intersted in a bill and holding the guys in charge accountable to getting it done. If the Dems cant get 59 votes for EUC then perhaps the problem is with their consituents concern about deficit spending , not the opposing party.

Good Luck

[connorsgp]

HR 4213 is dead...anyone collecting one of the tiers will not be able to move to the next tier..sad but true..politics have once again shit on millions of unemployed Americans.

[Sheila]

HR 4213 is dead...anyone collecting one of the tiers will not be able to move to the next tier..sad but true..politics have once again shit on millions of unemployed Americans.

Yep, our country has really turned against it's people. It's appalling. I don't think I am going to celebrate the fourth this year, afterall, our country is all about the banks, and I will NEVER celebrate a bank. The banks and government have ruined our ocuntry. I really wonder if things will ever get better.

[pyrox]

this is just not right... how can our own goverment do this to the tax payers of this country makes me sick to my stomach and ashame to even call my self an american.. this country is all about the rich and fighting useless war.. gear up washington cause you have stirred up a hornets nest one to many times wanna fight a war cause you have just started one right here on american soil... we are gonna bring it to your front door.................................

[sc4ram]

I think Open Congress has it right that a stand alone bill would pass. I would conclude this isnt about helping the unemployed, it is about pursuing their agenda in Congress.

http://www.opencongress.org/articles/view/1938-GOP-Block-Unemployment-Insurance-Bill-Once-Again-Dems-Giving-Up

by Marcia Pounds - Sun Sentinel June 24

The unemployment extension again failed to make it past a vote to limit debate in the U.S. Senate on Thursday evening.

The revised version included tax cuts sought by business groups and other provisions sought by both parties failed to advance to a vote. No Republican voted to end debate, which would have advanced the bill. Florida's senators votes were split: Nelson voted for debate to end on the measure, LeMieux did not.

If no other bill is proposed, more than 200,000 people a week will lose their jobless benefits. In Florida, more than 34,000 residents a week are losing their benefits since federal emergency benefits expired on June 2. The Senate has been debating various versions and amendments to the bill for eight weeks, with Republicans arguing the unemployment payments would add to the federal deficit.

Is this the end of the unemployment extension? "I hope not. The stakes are too high," said Judy Conti,lobbyist for the National Employment Law Project, an advocacy group for the nation's 15 million unemployed.


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Wednesday, June 23

While the Senate debate the unemployment extension starting again today, Americans who have run out of all available emergency benefits (Tiers I-IV), the so-called 99ers, recently tried to make the case that President Obama should sign an Executive Order for a Tier 5, or additional benefit weeks.

Even if the Senate comes up with a version of extending existing unemployment benefits through November, that won't help those who have already received up to 99 weeks of benefits and still can't find a job.

But an Executive Order can't be used to accomplish that either, according to Rep. Jim McDermott's, (D-Wash.) office. Congress must be the body that extends unemployment benefits, and it first has to first fix the benefit extension for those whose benefits are expiring after only 26 weeks.

In Florida, more than 7,500 residents each week are exhausting their six months of state benefits and have not federal emergency benefits at this point. They expired on June 2. And 26,752 residents are unable to move into Tier II, III or IV each week, according to Florida's Agency for Workforce Innovation.

[TruthbeKnown]

Republicans don't want to add to the federal deficit affecting future generation which such debt. But they really don't give a crap about future generations when they allow big oil compaines to continue their destruction on our precious environment. Our government system has truly failed us. Still allowing for illegal immigration and their anchor babies to get a free ride on our backs.

[sc4ram]

Notice how the folks running the Senate were able to work all night on a financial reform bill (that still doesnt end the Fed bail-out mechanism) and it will get enough votes from the opposition to pass.

This proves to me they could get a EUC bill done if they wanted to, IMO it just doesnt fit with their political "agenda" now.

[connorsgp]

This "no more adding to the deficit" is so much bullshit I can't stand hearing it any longer. The reason for the failure of this bill is purely political..the repubs want the dems to look as if they can't get anything accomplished so they will fight any initiative to move forward hoping the voters will replace the dems and repubs will once again have a majority in congress--then it would begin again with the dems fighting repub initiatives. The bottom line is we get the shaft...and congress really does not care...they are all ass covering politicians and us ex working people can eat cake. Just my 2 cents

[sc4ram]

Looks like the Speaker hasnt dropped this yet.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/06/25/nancy-pelosi-on-unemploym_n_625812.html

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