Sunday, March 27, 2011
Signs of human life in Oregon
Oregon has an unemployment rate of 10.2% after adding almost 10,000 jobs in February. There are still many people in Oregon that have been out of work for more than a year and a half. But even if there were only 2 people still out of work for that long the state legislature deserves praise for passing extensions of benefits for the long term unemployed.
By unanimous vote, the House passed Senate Bill 637, which would allow the state to draw additional federal unemployment money through the end of the year. There are currently 11,876 people participating in the federal extended benefits program, according to the Oregon Employment Department. With the legislation, officials estimate about 50,000 out-of-work Oregonians would qualify by the end of the year.What decent people do to help their neighbors. You could almost call is a christian act.
Under a plan approved by Congress in December, the federal government will pick up all the costs.
The House also endorsed Senate Bill 638, which offers an additional six weeks of state benefits to Oregonians who have been out of work for more than 99 weeks and have exhausted all other benefits, including the federal extensions.
Officials say they plan to contact the estimated 17,500 Oregonians who could be eligible. The Employment Department will spend up to $30 million from the unemployment insurance trust fund to pay for those benefits.
The bill passed, 49-9, but not without emotional debate.
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