Weak-Kneed Senators Want Mere 15 Day Unemployment Extension, as Govs Beg for Real Help

Earlier today, I learned from trusted sources on the Hill that Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid will propose only a 15-day unemployment and COBRA extension.

Such a move is absolutely pathetic and unacceptable. About 1.2 million million Americans are expected to lose their unemployment benefits at the end of the month. While a 15-day extension will allow people to continue receiving aid, hundreds of thousands of people will still receive notices from state unemployment offices saying that they will stop receiving aid.

Many people will be confused and not realize that they are indeed eligible for additional unemployment benefits. This will cause people to miss required steps for applying for benefits, such as documenting applying for jobs. Others will become confused and simply not file for benefits anymore. Thousands of people will effectively be disenfranchised due to this weak 15-day extension, which does nothing substantial to meet the jobs crisis this country faces.

Furthermore, the Senate’s failure to pass a long-term unemployment extension, along the lines of the six-month extension the House passed earlier this year, would mean states already broke will waste lots of money sending out confusing notices, first to say that unemployment benefits were canceled, then to say their benefits are restored, then to say they are about to be canceled again.

Meanwhile, governors are at the White House this week begging for more money from the federal government. Since states by law are not allowed to go into debt, without federal aid they will have to cut essential services in order to balance their budgets. States face a $357 billion budget shortfall and local governments are facing an additional $80 billion in budget deficits.

However, Republicans have Congress have made it known that they will filibuster any request that gives more money to the states. Democratic Gov. Jack Markell of Delaware said “These solutions are being held hostage by petty bickering.”

Republican Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, speaking Sunday on ABC This Week, criticized Republicans opposed to more stimulus funds for states are engaging “in a kind of politics”.

The Senate GOP should listen to the voices of the nation’s governors – both Republican and Democrat – who are calling for more stimulus funds.

It's time for the Senate the pass a real jobs bill like the $154 billion dollar jobs bill the House did back in December. The House jobs bill would take $75 billion in money earmarked for the Wall Street bailout and would give the money to states that actually need the money. The House jobs bills also extend by six months eligibility for unemployment benefits and COBRA subsidies.

In the light of the Senate decision to only vote on a a 15-day extension of unemployment, we are calling on concerned citizens to join the Jobs for America Now campaign. Call your senators

Click here to call your senators and join the Jobs For America Now campaign for a real unemployment extension and additional aid to states.

Views expressed on this page are those of the authors and not necessarily those of Campaign for America's Future or Institute for America's Future