Senate passes UI extension, with a viewpoint from Forbes on NC’s political moves

On April 7, the Senate voted 59-38 to approve the Emergency Unemployment Compensation Extension Act of 2014 (S. 2148), bipartisan legislation extending emergency unemployment insurance benefits.

The bill extends emergency unemployment compensation (EUC) insurance benefits, which benefit unemployed workers who are unable to find new employment prior to the exhaustion of the regular benefit (26 weeks in most states). The legislation would extend EUC benefits for five months, and allows for retroactive payments to eligible beneficiaries going back to December 28, when EUC initially expired. The legislation also includes a provision making individuals receiving EUC benefits eligible for enhanced personal assessments and referrals to reemployment services when they reach their 27th and 55th week of unemployment insurance (UI).

Now that the Senate has acted on UI, attention will turn to the House, which has shown little interest in taking up the Senate Bill.

Noting that North Carolina is the only state in the country that declined to extend long-term unemployment benefits last year, Forbes contributor Patrick Gleason suggests that Members of Congress look to the state to study recent events that have occurred that might have contributed to lower unemployment. Read the OP/ED here.

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