MONROE – As unemployment hovers at 15 percent with 731,000 residents out of work, House Majority Floor Leader Kathy Angerer (D-Dundee) and State Representative Kate Ebli (D-Monroe) called on the State Senate to act immediately to extend unemployment benefits to Michigan's struggling workers. With a massive surge in the number of workers exhausting their benefits expected to begin today, the lawmakers warned that by year's end nearly 100,000 Michigan workers will have their unemployment lifeline cut unless action is taken.
"It's time for the Senate to stop dragging their heels and pass this plan for our working families," Angerer said. "It takes time and hard work to find a new job, and our workers don't need the added pressure of worrying that their unemployment benefits are going to run out. Unfortunately, more workers are up against the clock than necessary because the Senate has failed to act."
Under the plan, which Angerer and Ebli voted for in May, unemployed workers who seek new skills by enrolling in a vocational or retraining program would be eligible for an additional 26 weeks of unemployment benefits. These benefits will be automatically provided to workers who are in a declining industry and enter an approved training program that prepares them for entry into new fields. These benefits also will be provided to workers who lost their job through no fault of their own and are now working part-time. For over three months the State Senate has failed to act on the plan, while more displaced workers fall behind.
Without Senate passage of this plan, Michigan stands to lose out on more than $138 million in unemployment assistance to struggling workers and their families as part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.
In July, 731,000 residents reported being unemployed, according to the Michigan Department of Energy, Labor and Economic Growth. Through December, the number of workers statewide who will exhaust their unemployment benefits claims is expected to reach nearly 100,000, including 990 in Monroe County and 1,797 in Washtenaw County.
"It's easy for anyone to simply say that they value hard work, but now it's time to back it up," Ebli said. "These are working families that worked hard all their lives and played by the rules, but simply lost their jobs to outsourcing or downsizing. It shouldn't take the Senate three months to realize that we need to extend these benefits to support our residents at a time when they need it most."
House Democrats have launched an online petition to rally support for the plan to extend the unemployment lifeline to Michigan's struggling workers. Residents can sign the petition by visiting www.housedems.com/petitions and clicking on the unemployment petition graphic.