For Immediate Release                                                           Contact: Kenneth Edmonds

Tuesday, September 22, 2009                                                                (202) 225-0773 

CONGRESSMAN JACKSON SUPPORTS PROVIDING

 LIFE JACKET TO LAID OFF AMERICAN WORKERS 

Washington, D.C. -- Congressman Jesse L. Jackson, Jr. supports a bill that extends unemployment benefits to the hundreds of thousands of workers who lost their jobs and have exhausted, or will soon exhaust, their unemployment benefits.  Congressman Jackson said the measure is "a life jacket" to jobless workers across the nation.

"This bill provides urgent and indispensable help to our nation's workers who are struggling against the rising tide of unemployment.  It ensures that those who've been laid off through no fault of their own will be able to stay afloat, helping them to pay their bills, feed their families and stay in their homes."

The legislation -- H.R. 3548 -- amends the current Emergency Unemployment Compensation (EUC) program to provide up to 13 additional weeks of extended unemployment benefits in high unemployment states.  High unemployment states are defined as those having a seasonally-adjusted, three-month average total unemployment rate of 8.5 percent, or a 13-week insured unemployment rate above 6 percent.

As of now, the high unemployment states include the following: AL, AZ, CA, DC, FL, GA, ID, IL, IN, KY, MA, ME, MI, MS, MO, NV, NJ, NC, NY, OH, OR, PA, PR, RI, SC, TN, WA, WI and WV.

Jackson continued, "This extension is targeted to states such as my home state of Illinois with particularly high unemployment, where it is more difficult for people to find new jobs.  Extending benefits to help at least 300,000 people -- including more than 20,000 Illinoisans -- who will run out of unemployment by the end of September is one of the most cost-effective and fast-acting ways to stimulate the economy and provide much-needed relief to unemployed Americans, as they struggle to find work."

The bill does not add to the federal deficit.  Instead, it extends for one year a federal unemployment tax that has been in place for more than 30 years, and requires better reporting on newly hired employees to reduce unemployment insurance overpayments.  

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