December 6, 2013
Rep. Cedric Richmond supports continuation of extended unemployment benefits. ( Associated Press )
By
WASHINGTON -- The Obama administration on Thursday stepped up efforts to convince Congress to continue extended unemployment benefits, now scheduled to end in January.
Currently, Louisiana has 6,326 people receiving extended benefits as a result of the federal program. If Congress doesn't act, benefits in Louisiana will end after 26 weeks of coverage. The White House said in a report Thursday that as many as 30,000 Louisiana residents could lose out on extended unemployment benefits, which peak at $237 a month, if the program isn't continued by Congress.
House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, said Thursday that he would consider an administration request to extend benefits, but made no commitment.
Some Republicans contend that extended unemployment benefits serve as a disincentive for people to find work.
"That's crazy," said Rep. Cedric Richmond, D-New Orleans. "Unemployment doesn't pay the same amount you are used to on your job. People want a job so they can provide for their families. The unemployment is a pass through. It doesn't get put in a bank account. It goes back out into the economy to pay the essentials."
Currently, Louisiana residents can qualify for an extra 37 weeks of coverage, beyond the traditional 26 weeks.
Rep. Bill Cassidy, R-Baton Rouge, didn't say whether he would support an extension of unemployment benefits, but called increasing jobs the most effective strategy to help the unemployed.
"The way you create jobs is by using America's natural resources," he said in a statement. "When you take oil and gas out of the ground, you create jobs at the wellhead and then all the way down stream, whether it is building pipeline, making the steel to make the pipe that goes into the pipeline; expanding petrochemical plants are then building pipelines from the petrochemical plants onward.
"Now, as regards long-term unemployment, that's a Band-Aid on a problem. We need to address the problem first," he said.
But according to a new report from the White House, unemployment benefits produce jobs. Without the extension, the United States could expect to lose 240,000 jobs because the spending power provided by extended unemployment benefit goes directly into the economy, paying for housing, food and other essential goods and services, the White House report said.
A 2012 Heritage report said extended benefits were appropriate during the 2008-09 recession, when unemployment peaked at 10 percent. It opposed the extension approved by Congress for 2013.
"Some people prefer collecting unemployment insurance to working," the Heritage report said. "However, the main reason UI increases unemployment is because it changes how the unemployed search for jobs. Workers with many months of benefits focus their search on jobs they prefer to find, which often means jobs that pay similarly to what they made before and/or are near where they live. When their unemployment insurance benefits draw down, they widen their search."
The White House said Congress has never suspended benefits when the unemployment rate was as high as the current 7.3 percent rate. It said that more than a dozen economic studies found that any disincentive to find new work that could result from extended benefits is, at most, small.
Not extending unemployment benefits, the White House report said, might encourage some long-term jobless Americans to give up in their job searches -- something they can't do while collecting benefits, because looking for work is part of the program's requirements.
The White House said that currently, 1.3 million Americans are receiving extended benefits, and 3.6 million Americans, including 30,000 in Louisiana, could lose jobless benefits in 2014 if Congress doesn't extend benefits beyond 26 weeks.
Tom Guarisco, spokesman for the Louisiana Workforce Commission, said an unemployed person now receives 26 weeks of regular unemployment benefits, funded by employers who pay UI taxes. After those benefits are exhausted, they can receive extended benefits, up to 37 weeks, which are federally funded. The extended benefits, under current law, are based on an individual state's unemployment rate.
If the program is extended through 2014, and Louisiana's 6.5 percent unemployment rate stays steady or declines, the maximum extended benefits would likely drop to 28 weeks.
The Congressional Budget Office estimated that the cost of extending unemployment insurance benefits for another year nationally would be $25 billion.
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Rep. Cedric Richmond supports continuation of extended unemployment benefits. ( Associated Press )
By
WASHINGTON -- The Obama administration on Thursday stepped up efforts to convince Congress to continue extended unemployment benefits, now scheduled to end in January.
Currently, Louisiana has 6,326 people receiving extended benefits as a result of the federal program. If Congress doesn't act, benefits in Louisiana will end after 26 weeks of coverage. The White House said in a report Thursday that as many as 30,000 Louisiana residents could lose out on extended unemployment benefits, which peak at $237 a month, if the program isn't continued by Congress.
House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, said Thursday that he would consider an administration request to extend benefits, but made no commitment.
Some Republicans contend that extended unemployment benefits serve as a disincentive for people to find work.
"That's crazy," said Rep. Cedric Richmond, D-New Orleans. "Unemployment doesn't pay the same amount you are used to on your job. People want a job so they can provide for their families. The unemployment is a pass through. It doesn't get put in a bank account. It goes back out into the economy to pay the essentials."
Currently, Louisiana residents can qualify for an extra 37 weeks of coverage, beyond the traditional 26 weeks.
Rep. Bill Cassidy, R-Baton Rouge, didn't say whether he would support an extension of unemployment benefits, but called increasing jobs the most effective strategy to help the unemployed.
"The way you create jobs is by using America's natural resources," he said in a statement. "When you take oil and gas out of the ground, you create jobs at the wellhead and then all the way down stream, whether it is building pipeline, making the steel to make the pipe that goes into the pipeline; expanding petrochemical plants are then building pipelines from the petrochemical plants onward.
"Now, as regards long-term unemployment, that's a Band-Aid on a problem. We need to address the problem first," he said.
But according to a new report from the White House, unemployment benefits produce jobs. Without the extension, the United States could expect to lose 240,000 jobs because the spending power provided by extended unemployment benefit goes directly into the economy, paying for housing, food and other essential goods and services, the White House report said.
A 2012 Heritage report said extended benefits were appropriate during the 2008-09 recession, when unemployment peaked at 10 percent. It opposed the extension approved by Congress for 2013.
"Some people prefer collecting unemployment insurance to working," the Heritage report said. "However, the main reason UI increases unemployment is because it changes how the unemployed search for jobs. Workers with many months of benefits focus their search on jobs they prefer to find, which often means jobs that pay similarly to what they made before and/or are near where they live. When their unemployment insurance benefits draw down, they widen their search."
The White House said Congress has never suspended benefits when the unemployment rate was as high as the current 7.3 percent rate. It said that more than a dozen economic studies found that any disincentive to find new work that could result from extended benefits is, at most, small.
Not extending unemployment benefits, the White House report said, might encourage some long-term jobless Americans to give up in their job searches -- something they can't do while collecting benefits, because looking for work is part of the program's requirements.
The White House said that currently, 1.3 million Americans are receiving extended benefits, and 3.6 million Americans, including 30,000 in Louisiana, could lose jobless benefits in 2014 if Congress doesn't extend benefits beyond 26 weeks.
Tom Guarisco, spokesman for the Louisiana Workforce Commission, said an unemployed person now receives 26 weeks of regular unemployment benefits, funded by employers who pay UI taxes. After those benefits are exhausted, they can receive extended benefits, up to 37 weeks, which are federally funded. The extended benefits, under current law, are based on an individual state's unemployment rate.
If the program is extended through 2014, and Louisiana's 6.5 percent unemployment rate stays steady or declines, the maximum extended benefits would likely drop to 28 weeks.
The Congressional Budget Office estimated that the cost of extending unemployment insurance benefits for another year nationally would be $25 billion.
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