Those collecting unemployment benefits could soon see their biweekly checks extended by new federal legislation making its way through the U.S. Senate.
Those collecting unemployment benefits could soon see their biweekly checks extended by new federal legislation making its way through the U.S. Senate. Senators will vote on a proposed jobs bill later this month, which aims to create more jobs and stimulate economic development while also helping the millions of people out of work. The bill would, among other things, extend unemployment benefits an additional 12 weeks. Those living in states with high unemployment, such as Michigan and Illinois, currently can collect benefits up to 99 weeks. It would also extend to the end of May a program that has the government paying 65 percent of health care benefits for unemployed workers under the Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act plan. In Illinois, the unemployment rate for December was 11.1, slightly higher than the national rate of 10 percent. Michigan leads all states in unemployment with a December rate of 14.6 percent. According to the Economic Policy Institute, the Black unemployment rate in Illinois was about 18.6 percent in 2009. The bill could not have come at a better time for Anthony Beavers, 41, whose extended unemployment benefits is scheduled to run out in two weeks. “I have been looking for a job for two years and have yet to find anything,” Beavers said. “I have two kids I pay child support for and without unemployment I would have no way to provide for them.” Should the Jobs Bill pass before Beavers’ benefits expire, the Illinois Department of Employment Security would notify him that an extension is available. And as long as he is still unemployed within three months of the bill’s passage, he would automatically qualify for the extension, said Citibank Economist Rodney Rogers.
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