FL sequence of unemployment benefits

From my understanding. I was exhausted regular benefits and went into Tier 1. I called and they told me that Tier 1 will exhaust on Dec 4 which makes me ineligible for receiving anymore. I received a letter today 9/18/2010 that this was my last unemployment claim.

Will I be enrolled automatically into tier 2? I am so confused. Is there any works on congress passing anything new? I know this is an election year. My dad told me that they jump for people during an election year.

Main question: If unemployment is so high (i heard it was over 11% alone in FL) and so many houses are defaulting (I know not all just because people aren't receiving unemployment) But for those that are keeping their house afloat out of foreclosure with the help of unemployment. What does the state think that's going to happen when more homes become flooded due to people not receiving unemployment.

I know some people who have received unemployment for 3+ years and they are still receiving it without having to lift a finger. While the rest of us who have families and rent/mortgages have to fight for it.

TracyL1981 wrote:From my understanding. I was exhausted regular benefits and went into Tier 1. I called and they told me that Tier 1 will exhaust on Dec 4 which makes me ineligible for receiving anymore. I received a letter today 9/18/2010 that this was my last unemployment claim.

Will I be enrolled automatically into tier 2? I am so confused. Is there any works on congress passing anything new? I know this is an election year. My dad told me that they jump for people during an election year.

Those dates don't make any sense to me. My guess is that whoever you spoke with about that Dec 4 date was telling you the end of the program eligibility, because the deadline for eligibility to go into the next tier is Nov 30, unless Congress gets off their duffs and takes some action to extend the program further. But an eligibility cutoff is not the same as the cutoff for final payments. Are you sure that you were not put on "EB" instead of Tier 1? EB, or the state program of Extended Benefits, (the one that Charlie Crist made the executive order to accept the federal money for a few months ago when Tallahassee refused to do anything) DOES expire flat out on Nov 30.

If you were in Tier 1, you should be automatically transitioned into Tier 2 as long as you reach that point before Nov 30, so that's why your dates just don't make any sense to me.

If I were you I would first read through my first post in this thread that gives a summary of all the Tiers. (And actually I need to update that a little to include the more recent EB funds from the executive order.) Go back over all your records and amounts to see how many total weeks you had. You can also look at the other thread here that tells you how your benefits are calculated, since not everyone has enough work credits in the system to get the full number of weeks or weekly amount. If your weekly amount was less than the $275 maximum, then you may have gone through all your available benefits more quickly than someone who was eligible for the max.

Then with that info at hand, call up one of the more reliable reps in our contacts list, like Melody for example, not the call centers, they can just confuse you! You need to find out exactly how many weeks in what tiers you have used up, and if you might be eligible at this point for the remaining weeks of EB until Nov 30. EB requires a separate application, but you are supposed to be notified of possible eligibility, but you need to find out from Tallahassee for sure.

TracyL1981 wrote:
Main question: If unemployment is so high (i heard it was over 11% alone in FL) and so many houses are defaulting (I know not all just because people aren't receiving unemployment) But for those that are keeping their house afloat out of foreclosure with the help of unemployment. What does the state think that's going to happen when more homes become flooded due to people not receiving unemployment.

I know some people who have received unemployment for 3+ years and they are still receiving it without having to lift a finger. While the rest of us who have families and rent/mortgages have to fight for it.

Yes, you've pretty much summed up the total lack of common sense of this entire situation and the ludicrous situation this country is in with not much being done about it.

As for someone getting 3+ years of benefits, barring fraud, the only way that can happen is if that person has done some work within that time. When someone gets even small amounts of work, the benefits can be stretched out over a longer time. Officially, no one could have received more than 99 weeks of their full weekly benefit (and now it's only 79 max for most) of actual benefits. But those benefits for many of the "99ers" started back in '06 or '07, and there were starvation periods for several months in between every extension of the Tiers that Congress passed. So don't think that anyone who went through this earlier had it any easier, believe me. Some who lost their jobs later in the recession didn't even have to undergo those gaps and the uncertainty and the lengthy delays by the state to get their programs in line with new legislation that was passed every time benefits ran out, but not before Congress spent months filibustering every attempt at the bills.

For some who got what seemed like longer benefits, they may have had enough work in certain quarters to be automatically booted into a new "benefit year," which meant almost always that the recalculation by the state resulted in a fraction of the former weekly benefit. Sometimes that occurred just because someone did some temp work and it backfired on them financially. It was ridiculous; the new law is supposed to correct that injustice somewhat, but I don't know the exact details.

As for what's coming up, the buzz in Congress and among those trying to get new legislation passed before people start dying this winter is that Congress cannot, or will not pass anything new before the elections, as weird as THAT might seem! The Senate is sitting on a new bill that would give Floridians a few months more in benefits (max), and the House has a similar bill, but it's always the Senate that holds everything up.

If you find out you really are now what is considered a "99er," even if you never got anywhere near that many weeks, join the crowds online at the various sites like this one that are lobbying their representatives to pass emergency legislation to help people like yourself and the rest of those who have nowhere to turn for help. You can read over the sections on legislation here (Senate bills, etc.) to get up to speed on what is going on (or not) and links to other sites for organizing. (This site has been rather quiet lately, but it has been primarily addressed to helping with AWI issues and with state EB questions, along with some discussion of the national scene, which will probably heat up a bit when the Senate comes back in session.)

There is a march on Washington scheduled for Oct 2; you might want to follow the news on that and other discussion forum about the Senate bill S. 3706. You can also find links to resources for help here on this forum and other forums. If you don't have food stamps, you may be able to get them if you have now exhausted all benefits. There are other resources, but a lot depends on if you are single, what assets you have, etc.

Good luck to you.

OH! I gathered my notes. When my first round of unemployment expired they told me that I would be rolled over (as long as I showed proof that I was actively seeking employment). But for the life of me I did not write down if it was tier 1 or EB. But from what I read on the UC site is that I should be eligible for the next tier. I wondered what the 99 meant. I mean we did everything right (per say) didn't over spend, based our house off one income, didn't take out money from our home and it just seems that we are being punished. That does not make sense why don't pass something before hand, "Hey I did what you wanted me to, now vote for me!" Not much of what congress does makes sense any more. I am studying law right now and actually I know where America went wrong. (But I think many of us know as well)

Just wanted to say that your website is awesome. It clarified a lot of things that the UC boards make you scratch your head.

Im glad your able to find some useful information here Tracy. I started this the summer of last year to try and put some sort of organized community resource together for us all. Nancy, Gonzo, Sc4ram and many others have been very helpful in helping provide some sort of direction for those who would have otherwise been lost out there.

TracyL,

Like Nancy suggested,it would be best to contact one of the more learned rep's at AWI. I think you would know if you were on EB instead of EUC for the simple reason that EB requires you to show to 2 job searches per week when you file for your bi weekly benefits. If you are not being asked to do this(unless the rules have changed)then I would guess you are still in the EUC tiers.

Does anyone have a current sequence of unemployment benefits?