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Florida Unemployment Benefits Extension – 20 More Weeks

Update – Feb 7, 2011 – Legislation to add extra weeks for 99ers

Democratic Reps. Barbara Lee (Calif.) and Bobby Scott (Va.) are reintroducing legislation this week to provide additional weeks of unemployment insurance benefits for “99ers,”

Main article

In 2009, the 2009 stimulus package was created by President Obama and provided extra funding for states to extend the length of unemployment benefits if necessary.  Most states have a fixed number of weeks available for benefits but can increase the number of weeks if necessary.  The Florida unemployment rate in April was 9.6%.

The state of Florida recently approved an extension of the unemployment benefits by 20 weeks as a result of Senate Bill 810 sponsored by Sen. Rudy Garcia, R-Miami and Rep. Dave Murzin, R-Pensacola.  This applies to unemployed persons who have already used up the previous maximum of 59 weeks of unemployment benefits.  The legislation allowing this EB extension was signed by Governor Charlie Crist and will provide more benefits for up to 250,000 unemployed Floridians.  The payments will be up to $300 per week.

The money to pay for these extended benefits will come from the stimulus package of 2009 – about $415 million in total.

The agency responsible for these benefits is called the Agency for Workforce Innovation – they expect to start sending out the extended benefit checks in July.  According to a spokesman from the agency Robby Cunningham – some people might be able to collect benefits retroactive to February of 2009.

“It’s actually retroactive to February 22nd of this year so some qualifying receiptence could receive initial payments up to 5,100 dollars.”

Please note that any retroactive payments will be from February 22, 2009 or when your last claim ran out – whichever is later.

How to apply for extended benefits

If you qualify for the extended 20 weeks then you still have to apply – go to www.floridajobs.com and click on the big red “Extended Benefits” square near the top of the right side of the screen.  The actual link which will open up the application form is here.  You can also fill in and mail the EB application to the address indicated on the EB notice/application you will be receiving in the mail.

How do I know if I’m eligible?

Here are a few guidelines you can use to determine eligibility:

  • You are totally or partially unemployed.
  • You exhaust all entitlement to regular and emergency unemployment compensation (EUC) benefits prior to February 22, 2009 but your benefit year ends after February 22, 2009.
  • You exhaust all entitlement to regular and emergency unemployment compensation benefits after February 22, 2009.
  • You are not eligible for unemployment compensation benefits in any state (including Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, The District of Columbia) or Canada.
  • You satisfy all requirements of the Florida UC Law that apply to regular UC and EB, such as being able and available for work, and have not been disqualified from receiving benefits based on your reason for separation.
  • You actively seek work for each EB week claimed and provide the work search record as instructed.
  • You do not refuse an offer of suitable work or fail to apply for suitable work.

 

698 replies on “Florida Unemployment Benefits Extension – 20 More Weeks”

I CALLLED REID PELOSI STATE REPS AND WROTE ALSO INCLUDING THE PRES. PLEASE ALL 99RS CALL AND WRITE- ALSO THOSE OF YOU STILL ON REG UNEMPLOYMENT AND THOSE WHO NOW HAVE EXTENTIONS- WE SUPPORTED AND HELPED YOU- HOW ABOUT HELPING US- REMEMBER YOU COULD BEE THE ONES IN OUR SHOES!

I will believe it when I see it. Gov Scott said that we all have to do community service as well.

To Everyone: Merry Christmas and Happy New Year
I I am still hoping something will happen to help the 99,ers. take care.

Gov. Scott has a point with the community service. There are many unemployed working cash jobs and collecting unemployment. This would do away with that aspect. It would also get those who want to work back into a schedule rather than staying home depressed. I personally had approximately $2400 in my UE account, but took a job that I really didn’t want instead. I am very grateful that I did. Had I waited to land the job that I wanted, my unemployment would have run out and I would be in the same boat.

Send the message to Scott that you will be happy to do community service for a check.

Community service would separate those that really want to work and those who just
want to collect.

michael:

Agreed. This is what Newt said as well, although some others took what he said out of context. He said that he’d like to see it transformed into a work program, vocational type of program rather than just be a program where checks are collected.

You are right. Anyone who gets mad about this idea, is someone who doesn’t want to work but wants to collect.

The sad truth is, as UE continues to grow, they are going to have to come up with something to get people back to work, period.

It’s either that, or do the other thing I suggested, and that was make UE permenent. As long as you certify you are looking for work, continue to pay the benefits out, until you reach SS age. I mean what else is there? I think we’ve gone WAAAAAY past the point of putting everyone back to work. It’s just not going to happen.

Merry Christmas All!

Gov Scott also believes the unemployed only spend 20 minutes/day looking for work.

Is there anyone who claimed their weeks this past thursday before christmas know when we will get are checks direct deposited? thanks

TO:
Mark in FL
I read that article and am thrilled We may have a SMALL CHANCE.
A GLIMMER OF HOPE!!!!!
Please tell me and the others, What can we do????

Thanks for the info ! U made my New Year Happy.

I’ve been reading blogs on the “99er’s situation” and found some interesting things.
I don’t know how old the “over qualified” posters are…. here on this blog. But in general,
from what I read is that you can not discriminate because of age. So what you are “over
qualified” really means, is that you are too damn old! Another theory that really makes
sense, is that it means, “you are going to be unhappy in this job, sow discontent among other employees, and then bolt when you get another job which you will undoubtably be looking for the entire time of your employment.”

At one time, I was “over qualified”. But then when I looked at the current job market, I found that I wasn’t qualified for squat!! Never wanted to learn office jobs, and now wasn’t qualified.
When I was asked why I wanted the job, I replied, ” my career was exciting, but it is over and not coming back in my time.I’m mature, I want a no-brainer job, where I know that I will make X amount of money, budget accordingly, do a good job for you, leave here at 5:oo and not think about it until I return at 9 am” I was hired on the spot almost a year ago, have gotten a raise, a Christmas bonus with paid holidays off. When I walk out on Friday @ five… work does not enter my mind until Monday morning.

I guess I’m saying, (from what I read) the “they didn’t hire me because I’m over qualified” might not be the truth. You might be “Old” you might be Fat… find a way to work around it
It used to make me feel better by saying, “Well they just didn’t hire me because I was over qualified!” Hey…. reality is… that this is a whole different job market and there are now 30 year old’s with the same qualifications that I have …. not to mention a tighter body.

In the week ending Dec. 25, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 388,000, a decrease of 34,000 from the previous week’s revised figure of 422,000. The 4-week moving average was 414,000, a decrease of 12,500 from the previous week’s revised average of 426,500.

Good Morning All!

Joe – glad the Gators pulled it out…at first, I thought we were doomed!

Moo!

To all 99er when the sentors get back to work we need to get back to work calling and fax them asking them to help us,, because at the end of the day they know it know JOB out here

Mark:

Yea, it looked like business as usual (for this season at least)

Muschamp is sure putting together an NFL coaching staff, next year should be interesting.

Moo to u too! 🙂

Joe-Gville, Mark in FL, and Piefaces Mom, has anyone heard from our friend Jadeshine lately.

In the week ending Jan. 1, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 409,000, an increase of 18,000 from the previous week’s revised figure of 391,000. The 4-week moving average was 410,750, a decrease of 3,500 from the previous week’s revised average of 414,250.

Happy New Year, everyone! I have a lot to catch up on, here and in my life. I’ll keep at it. Let me know if there’s anything I should be doing right now.

Hi All!

Issa – Good to see you back. Hope you had a good trip visiting your sister….NY right? Welcome home!

UNE – Last time Jadeshine was on here was ~mid-December….around then I think. How are you?

Hope everyone is doing okay! 🙂

Hi everyone,

Is there any hope for people like me who have used all tiers of EUC but didn’t qualify for any EB? I got my last check about three weeks ago, which was after December 4th. Am I done? I filed for the EB anyway but never heard anything.

Kathy, if you went through all the tiers and there is no more EUC for you, then you qualify for EB. (provided you didn’t exhaust EB previously)

Call them!

Joe

please pray for me i have a job interview oh 01-12-2011 you guys know how hard it is to get one of thous n these time please wish me luck to all my 99ers friend and family

Good Luck Marr! Really happy for you. Due to recent events I dont think we are a priority anymore if we ever were.

So sad about what happened senseless, tragic. Somehow now, my problems don’t seem so bad.

Good Morning All!

Marr – Good luck on the job interview! Keep us posted.

Kathy – If you have NEVER received EB, then you should qualify. Didn’t you get EB around the same time I was getting it? If you ever had to put in your job searches when claiming your weeks online, then you got EB.

In the week ending Jan. 8, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 445,000, an increase of 35,000 from the previous week’s revised figure of 410,000. The 4-week moving average was 416,500, an increase of 5,500 from the previous week’s revised average of 411,000.

Joe – I saw it! Yes the 99ers got some acknowledgement!

Issa – They showed a 99er on a computer & I could see your petition title across the top…..The 99ers need a tier 5 added to unemployment!! I think you ought to post your link again….all over the place!

It will take years & years; if ever, to gain all the jobs back that we’ve lost.

I applied for EB after my 79 weeks and last teir ended, i applied for it on the 14th january, for 3 weeks certified and so forth, how long is the wait before i start receiving checks to my bank? Is there a waiting week like when you first start UC or will i start getting checks as soon as they get to my EB certifications i submitted? And one more question. What qualifies/disqualifies you from getting EB after 79 weeks of UC/EUC

And how do i check my claim with my conformations number? does tell me where i check that at anywhere

They dont tell you what the eligibility ammount for the determination is , everyone says “u done with EUC then you qualify” but all i read is ” determination kept me from EB eligibility” i just want to know what the ammount is so i can expect to move out of where i am living or expect to receive payments because they dont answer phones/ are taking days to do this.

Repost from New York side:
Hi, everyone. I’m trying to catch up a bit.
Sherri: Thanks for your good thoughts. I was on the last flight out of DC to California. It was already snowing!
Paul: The Python sketch was hilarious. Thanks for posting it.
Mark: There were 137 signers of the petition last week, and a total of 46,291. I’m always amazed at how many new people find it even though there’s no publicity these days. It would have been nice if they had mentioned it on that national program. I don’t have time to do anything about it right now. I’m over my head with personal concerns at the moment, but I haven’t given up on either the petition or the 99ers. I did update the wording before the holidays. Maybe we could do a ‘rally’ to get to 50,000 and then send it to all of Congress again. Maybe the Congresswoman who’s doing something for us in March (forget her name) could use it. There’s a way of downloading it and attaching it to emails. I’ll have to find out how to do that again.
Anyway, here’s the link:
http://www.change.org/petitions/view/the_99ers_need_a_tier_v_added_to_unemployment_benefits

This is the updated letter/petition:
The number of Americans that need the nation’s help is now in the millions. Unemployed workers are seriously and disproportionately bearing the brunt of what for them is a depression. Extending benefits for those who have exhausted the 99 weeks would dilute the hardship on these individuals by dispersing the impact over the entire population and over years.

The longest unemployed workers did not create this depression, Congress did with its failure to regulate the banks, health industry, and corporations. People who were fully employed, paying taxes, and raising families are now paying the price for this negligence. They trusted their elected leaders to keep something like this from happening. They were let down.

Congress knew this depression would last past March 2010, yet there were no plans to add additional unemployment tiers to keep these people from becoming increasingly destitute. Millions began to lose all financial support on March 14. This is increasing to many more millions as Congress does not enact additional tiers. These benefits were the only money keeping food on their tables. These Americans are on lines for shelters and soup kitchens. Families are disintegrating. People are committing suicide. This is real, not a possibility. It’s happening now. Congress knows it is.

…and this is not of their own making. They’re not to blame. They didn’t cause themselves to lose their jobs.
…and you discounted them again by allowing their benefits to end with Tier IV.

Extending the benefits for the recently unemployed does not help any of those who have been the longest and hardest hit by this depression. These bills only half address the unemployed, and 50% is an F.

Please make sure that the only choice for Americans who want to work is either a job or unemployment benefits. Don’t end benefits until there are jobs for them. As of now, there is only 1 job for every 5 unemployed workers. If Americans don’t take care of Americans, who in this world will?

JakeJames – If you’ve only received 79 weeks then you will qualify for the EB 20 weeks unless you’re working. Who knows how long it will take them to “get the money in the bank.” You will receive the same weekly amount as you did with the EUC tiers. I would just keep checking your account online. Instead of clicking on claim your weeks, click on check claim status or something like that…..It been a long time since I’ve claimed weeks, so I’ve forgetten the actual terms they use online. But you can check it. If there continues to be no update, you may want to call. Just the fact that you received a confirmation number is a good sign that things are being processed….I’m sure they are just behind as usual. Good luck & I hope this helps!

Issa – As usual, thanks for your efforts! Hope you’re good 🙂

Thanks Mark & Joe. I have never received any EB. After I file for EB should I hear from them or should I just keep checking my balance? And how quickly should I expect this to happen?

I just filed for EB at the end of December. It took close to 3 weeks for the money to come. You don’t get any communication from them before that. As Mark said go online like you are going to do your regular claim but instead of hitting the claim weeks button, hit the one below that says check claim status or whatever. The information shows up there a couple days before the payment arrives. Good luck to you!

To Anyone: 4.13 Pm Wednesday,19 Jan 2011
Wonder why a date and or time isn’t on our entries; would be nice.
What is the latest on the next hearing of the 99,ers? March? Just curious. Best for all of you;you deserve it…

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