Extended Unemployment Compensation Deadline Looms (POLL)

Tens of thousands of jobless state residents are nervously eyeing the calendar as Congress approaches the deadline for re-authorizing extended unemployment compensation benefits.

The deadline for passing the legislation technically is Dec. 31, but Congress is scheduled to recess and leave Washington DC after Friday, Dec. 16, which makes that the practical deadline.

Democrats in Congress, who support re-authorization, have vowed to remain in Washington through the holiday recess if that’s what is necessary to gain approval of that and another key bill, the extension of a payroll tax cut.

State Labor Department spokesperson Nancy Steffans said in Connecticut, the key date is actually Jan. 28, 2012. If the extended benefits are not re-authorized, that’s the first cutoff date for benefits here.

But not everyone will see an end of the benefits as of February. Some jobless residents might continue to receive payments until June, she said.

And anyone who claimed their first week of unemployment benefits this week can count on the full 26 weeks funded through the state unemployment compensation pool.

The full benefit extension guarantees payments for up to 99 weeks, almost two years.

In Branford, recent unemployment statistics show that 6.9 percent of the town's labor force of 17,474 people are unemployed. There are 16,273 still working and 1,201 out of work.

Leo and Vickie, two unemployed residents who asked not to have their last names published, were at the Connecticut Works office in Hamden last week to use the job hunting services the state Labor Department provides there.

Both were laid off in September and they said they expect to get new jobs soon. But Vickie said her husband, who works in construction, has been out of a job for a long time and they rely on his benefits.

“It’s a grave concern that the unemployment benefits might not be approved,” said Vickie, a clerical worker from Hamden.

She was at the Connecticut Works office to take a training course in office management on the computers.

Vickie said she received $343 a week, and her husband about the same amount. The two payments combined were not enough to pay their bills, so she said they relied on help from relatives and their church.

“I may be the eternal optimist, but I don’t see this unemployment lasting more than two or three more months,” said Leo, a North Haven resident who was laid off from a commuter transportation services company that lost its government grant.

His skills were in public speaking, public relations, computers and social media, which are versatile enough to adapt to a different industry. That’s why he was hopeful. But Leo said not everyone was in that position.

“There are people whose jobs are gone, and they are jobs they had for 20 or 30 years. Their jobs are gone,” he said.

U.S. Rep. Rosa DeLauro (D-CT3) said re-authorization of unemployment benefits was crucial to the economy. Failing to do so would sharply increase the number of people who can’t pay their bills, she said.

“Congress has never let emergency unemployment insurance benefits expire when unemployment is at its current rate of close to 9 percent,” she said

DeLauro said 58,000 Connecticut residents might be affected if the extended benefits are not re-authorized.

“Further inaction from Congress could be catastrophic for people in Connecticut and our economy,” observed U.S. Rep. Chris Murphy (D-CT5) of Cheshire.

Workers who are eligible for unemployment insurance (UI) benefits receive 26 weeks of regular state benefits, then 53 weeks of federally funded emergency benefits, followed by 20 weeks of extended benefits, for a total of 99 weeks.

Steffans said UI benefits are based on a system with multiple tiers of eligibility. The tiers have different cutoff dates if the emergency and extended benefit programs are not re-authorized.

Those who exhaust the first 26 weeks of regular state unemployment insurance (UI) by Dec. 24 will move into Tier 1, Tier 2 or Tier 3 of the emergency benefits, extending their cutoff until June 9, 2012.

But those who don’t exhaust the first 26 weeks until after Dec. 25 will not receive extended or emergency benefits after Jan. 28.

Anyone receiving extended benefits (the last 20 weeks) will reach the cutoff on Jan. 28.