House of Representatives did not pass the extension for jobless benefits to February 28, 2011. Currently the deadline is November 30, 2010.
On Thursday, the House was unable to pass the bill which would have extended the filing dates for unemployment benefits by three more months.
The legislation was supposed to extend the filing deadline for federal unemployment claims to February 28, which would have allowed more people to avail of the benefits. Currently, the deadline is on November 30.
Federal unemployment payments last up to 73 weeks, which is what people fall back on after the 26 weeks covered by government funding expire. The benefits are separated into tiers, with unemployed individuals having to apply every time they transfer over to a new tier.
The House of Representatives extended the deadline for the filing of applications a total of four times last year. The last extension for jobless benefit applications cost $34 billion and lasted for almost half a year, which at first was heavily opposed by Capitol Hill due to budget concerns before it was passed in July.
The bill, which will cost the state $12.5 billion, was deliberated on by the House on Thursday. With a vote of 258 to 154, it didn’t reach the 275 votes, or two-thirds of the House, needed to gain approval.
However, this isn’t the last anybody’s seen of the bill. There will surely be more attempts to extend unemployment benefits filing, which will help the millions of jobless people in the US. Although there is no clear indication of what’s to come, it is possible that attempts to extend the filing will resurface in the form of a larger and more comprehensive bill – maybe one that will also touch upon the extension of Bush’s tax cuts.
Related Unemployment Articles:
- Jobless-benefits bill fails in House (marketwatch.com)
- House GOP Blocks Bill to Extend Jobless Benefits (abcnews.go.com)
- House Votes Against Jobless Benefits Extension (blogs.abcnews.com)
