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Revision as of 16:29, March 21, 2010

The Benefit Wiki project on the OpenCongress wiki tracks information on unemployment benefits, including regular unemployment compensation, the federal Emergency Unemployment Compensation program and the Extended Benefits Program. Benefit Wiki is a free, open-source, fully-referenced, and non-partisan public resource.
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Latest news on bill progress

Latest news, the week of March 21st, 2010:

This news section has not been updated for several months since the last bill for additional weeks of unemployment was passed last fall. With the upcoming deadlines and exhaustion of benefits for so many people that are coming up around the end of March and continuing with 400,000 losing benefits every month to follow for some time, I will try to keep up with pending legislation in this news section. Meanwhile, as millions are losing all benefits and still unable to find work, be sure to check out the resource links below to find whatever help is out there for the unemployed.

With SO many bills involving the issues of unemployment benefits and jobs creation that have been bouncing around Congress lately, it has been confusing to all which ones would do what and which ones are actually the ones to watch. I'll re-post here a brief update on the bill numbers in the form of a question and answer that was posted earlier on the Florida unemployment message board:

Question:
--HR 4213 passed the Senate earlier this month, extending eligibility to 12/31/10
--HR 2847 Mentions unemployment & Cobra in the text, but not clear on what it really does
--HR 4851 On March 16 The Continuing Extension Act of 2010 strikes the deadline April 5 2010, and inserts May 5 2010
Have any of these bills actually done ANYTHING? If HR 4213 extends eligibility through 12/31/10, what is the purpose of HR 4851?

Why do they need to have 3 different bills, with 2 of them stating different eligibility dates?, and nothing states more weeks or tiers...?

Reply:

HR 4213 never made it into law. Remember, even when a bill passes either the House or the Senate, it still can get amended, or go into conference committee and die there. In this case, as I vaguely remember, Reid broke this bill up, ostensibly not trusting it would either get final support or serve its purpose, or whatever. The bill is a huge rambling thing about taxes, the unemployment part was just a fraction of that bill. http://www.opencongress.org/bill/111-h4213/show

The "new plan" was supposedly to have a series of smaller bills, more straightforward, not as easy to vote against, and trying to "send the right message" to folks about their efforts with job creation.

So 4213 did not actually extend anything yet. That's why 2847 was needed as a stopgap measure to keep the machines turning out checks in the states, while supposedly Congress could figure out the best approach to some comprehensive jobs legislation. So after Bunning, et al, it became apparent that even the Hire Act, the one with the hiring incentives, a much smaller bill, would have trouble getting passed (but eventually did), they realized they needed yet more time, so that's why someone proposed another stopgap bill for May 5!

So now we have a new law to entice employers to hire people with a tax credit and a temp cut in SS taxes (that's sizable, actually) that might get a few employers who might be on the fence to go ahead with hiring plans and employ the unemployed, but we still don't have any kind of date extension past April 5.

On the positive side, that leaves the discussion open for additional weeks of benefits as Congress considers what other bills to pass for jobs and unemployment. On the negative side, whether you're for the current health care package pending in Congress or against it, chances are (in this writer's opinion) your calls and letters to Congress about any such extensions will get more traction after the current heated debate on that bill, and also after many start to lose all income support in these coming months.

--nancym

News Archive

Bill summary

This was posted by NoGoodOnesLeft (NGOL) recently. It's a good shorthand version of what to expect if this amendment SA2668 and bill HR3548 pass as now written:

NEW TIERS OF EUC:
Tier 2 - 14 weeks for everyone.
Tier 3 - 13 weeks for at or over 6.5% 3 month average.
Tier 4 - 6 weeks for at or over 8.5% 3 month average.

They added Limitation rules so if your state already got Tier 2 - you will get the one extra week from the new Tier 2 and then will trigger on to Tier 3 for 13 weeks and if your state is at or over 8.5% average, then trigger on to Tier 4 for 6 more weeks.

If your state hasn't got the old Tier 2 of 13 weeks yet - you will get the 14 weeks and if your state goes to or over 6.5% average you will trigger on to Tier 3 for 13 more weeks and then if your state goes to or over 8.5% average trigger on to Tier 4 for 6 more weeks.

Bottom line for individuals who have exhausted their benefits in a state under 8.5%: 14 weeks

Bottom line for individuals who have exhausted their benefits in a state over 8.5%: 14 weeks + 6 weeks

Select a state to see information for your area

Please note: While editing this main page of the Benefit Wiki is restricted, individual state sections are editable by any member of Open Congress. If you don't see the "Edit" buttons when you go there, just log in at the top a second time with your regular login and you will be able to edit or add information there, using an email-like editing interface. Feel free to add any new information that will help the unemployed, but please, no commentary, these areas are for non-partisan resources only.

Citizen actions

1. Call, email, fax, twitter, mail all governors, Senators and the President.
   1. Contacting members of Congress:
      1. Contacting your Representatives
      2. Contacting your Senators
2. E-mail form from NELP
3. White House Contact Info
4. Write letters to local newspaper regarding the need for unemployment support. (One resource to use for creating letters online that can be sent to newspapers and periodicals is Publishaletter.com.)
5. Possible ideas if Senators and the President refuses to listen to us such as one term limit, etc.
   
6. SIGN PETITION: Asking Congress to please act now to extend benefits!!!!!!  http://www.petitionspot.com/petitions/NeedExtendedBenefits/
   

Survival links (please see individual states for local info)

[Note: This list of support links was started by Hope in Cali in an OC article titled "Help for the Unemployed till they pass the Bill." It has since been expanded here on the Benefit Wiki to reach more people and be accessible to all forums through the main Wiki link.]

General support for the unemployed

(Some organizations may be out of funds, or awaiting funds.)

• Salvation Army
• Goodwill.org
• Google These Suggestions: 
  1. "Faith based stimulus package"
  2. "Community Action"
• Angel Food Ministries
• Charities and organizations that can help with paying bills.
• www.safelink.com  Get a phone for free if you qualify.
• Worried about your electricity being cut off? Check what protections you might have in the LIHEAP Clearinghouse, a state-by-state guide to disconnection policies: liheap.ncat.org/Disconnect/disconnect.htm
  
• Help Until The Unemployment Extension Passes A collection of links and news items to help the unemployed who have run out of resources.
• Credit problems or getting hassled? Check out these forums:
  1. Creditboards.com
  2. RipoffReport.com
• Think it's hard enough finding work, and then you've got to step through the mine field of scam ads on top of that? Check out these forums:
  1. Phishbucket.org
  2. Craigslist Scambuster
• Free gas from the government??? This is a new program that apparently no one has heard of but is supposedly real. Check these sites for an explanation, and if you find out more, please give us your feedback on the forums or in the state sections of this Wiki.
  1. Free Gas Cards
  2. New Hope for the Unemployed
• This site from the National Council on Aging acts as a clearing house for links to several sources of aid: Benefits Checkup
• Stressed out from the job search, the constant worry, need help with keeping up your spirits and maybe some practical help on job leads or networking strategies? Many state employment agencies have started up support and networking groups, but an organization with a long history of helping groups get together is Meetup.com. Do a search on their site for "unemployed" to find groups in your area, or you can start your own. Meetup.com helps by transitioning online contacts into actual physical meetings by providing online resources to rate meeting places for your group, email and online notification of meetings, and other online resources to help in your organization.
• Have a specific need? You can post a request for help and get actual donations for compelling need at this site that is essentially a public charity resource on the Internet: Modest Needs

Health care-related organizations

• Free Clinics (free health services)
• Free Flu shots at CVS stores

Housing and rental information

• Check in your individual states if you're a renter (or will soon be!) for the "Homelessness Prevention and Rapid Re-Housing" program. These ARRA funds are apparently just now (September) trickling out to the states and may be used up pretty quickly. Looks like only the hardest hit counties, in Florida for example^[1], are giving out the rent money, but it's $300 million going out nationwide. ^[2]

• Tenants Together
• For the more radical, but somewhat more risky approach, check out Take Back the Land

General Benefits Info

OpenCongress resources

• Unemployment benefits
• Emergency unemployment compensation

External resources

• Federal information on unemployment insurance
• Emergency Unemployment Compensation program
• State unemployment offices
• Trigger Reports for EUC and TUR

Here's what you can find on Benefit Wiki

• Information on regular unemployment benefits on a state-by-state basis
• Information on other available benefits and programs to help the unemployed get through this recession
• Tier 1 and Tier 2 Emergency Unemployment
• Updates on the latest legislation in Congress to extend or expand unemployment benefits

Find out how to participate or contact us at the Benefit Wiki community portal.

About/contact

The power of the fully sourced and operational wiki project comes from the citizens across the country researching, writing and fact-checking the information here. It is free, open-source, transparent in its editing standards and sourcing, and non-partisan. All information on Benefit Wiki is required to be referenced to an outside news source, and no partisan information is included.

The Benefit Wiki is coordinated by the OpenCongress team. We encourage you to make any additions or corrections via the "Edit" tab at the top of every project page (you'll need to log-in to edit; see the "Join OpenCongress" link in the top right to register for free).

For questions more generally about the Benefit Wiki or about starting your own project on OpenCongress, please contact the OpenCongress team at writeus@OpenCongress.org.

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More background and individual contact information can be found on the Benefit Wiki community portal.