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New York Unemployment Extensions – 13 More Weeks Of Extended Benefits?

Please note the comments are closed on this post because of technical difficulties. The discussion has been moved to this post.

[update on May 12  New York extends unemployment by 13 weeks]
[update on May 19 – Unemployment bill to extend EB by 13 weeks has been passed by legislature].

The state of New York has been hit pretty hard by the current economic climate and unemployment levels have been rising.  As a result of these  high unemployment rates New York state has qualified for unemployment benefit extensions which were introduced as part of the 2009 stimulus package.

Unemployment benefits currently available in New York

At the moment there are a total of 59 weeks of unemployment available to New Yorkers:

  • 26 weeks – These are the regular unemployment benefits which are available regardless of the economy.
  • 33 weeks – This is Emergency Unemployment Compensation (EUC) which is made up of a 20 week segment followed by a 13 week segment.  Emergency benefits will be paid by the same method as the regular benefits (direct deposit or check).

Will there be another 13 weeks of extended benefits?

The state government including Gov. David A. Paterson, is currently working on this extension which would involve about $645 million of federal money along with state money for funding.  The reason for the delay is that New York, along with several other states have laws which need changing in order to accept the federal funding.  If the legislation is passed it will provide an additional 13 weeks of benefits to approximately 120,000 New Yorkers for a total of 72 weeks of unemployment benefits.

429 replies on “New York Unemployment Extensions – 13 More Weeks Of Extended Benefits?”

The S.1647 bill was always an 8.5% trigger and the HR 3404 (9%) was changed to HR 3548 and reflect a change of 8.5%.

NYC unemployment rate is now 10.3%.. It’s almost a certainty that it will be going to 11+%…

We can be sure Congress won’t be leaving NYC/NYS out of any future extension, this is why, IMO, we now see the 8.5% trigger rate instead of the 9% rate. 9% would have left NYC out, 8.5% includes NYC..

NYC is too big and too important to be left out.

We are experiencing previously unheard rates of long-term unemployment. Using trigger rates to grant additional coverage when there is an average of 1 job for every 6 Americans seems far from logical.
When they claim that there is 1 job for every six people, are they referring to full-time positions that you can actually live on or just “anything”?

“It is a temporary bill just until they fix the entire bill before end of year. ”
marly911, please clarify, thanks

CNN – House to Vote by next Wednesday on Unemployment Extension!
Admin Yesterday at 10:54 pm

http://money.cnn.com/2009/09/17/news/economy/unemployment_benefits/index.htm?postversion=2009091718

House to vote on extending unemployment benefits
Legislation calls for jobless Americans in high-unemployment states to get an additional 13 weeks of checks.
By Tami Luhby, CNNMoney.com senior writer
September 17, 2009: 6:23 PM ET

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) — Jobless Americans in high-unemployment states would see their benefits extended for another 13 weeks under legislation to be considered by Congress next Wednesday.

laurel:

Thanks for including that article – The bill seems to be picking up speed – Hopefully it will get done before the recess.

It’s amazing that I really think all the letters, calls and input by people like us here on the forum and around the country may have actually helped this thing get moving. Shows that when like-minded people speak up and speak out, our voices become strong..It’s also good to know that the majority of people who know anything about the job market, now really understand that we are not just sitting on our hands just to collect the meager UI payment, but rather, that there simply are not enough jobs to go around for all of those who have become unemployed due to this recession. As lazy and whatever we think of these politicians who will decide out fate, I think for the most part, we have been very fortunate to so far get the most extended benefits in history. So even if they are lazy, overpaid fat cats in the House & Senate, there are also many who actually do seem to be in touch with what we’re going thru – I just hope for all of us that even if we get 13 weeks, that the job market will improve so that we don’t have to go through this again and again just to hope we can continue to have a chance to get ourselves back on track, and back to work.

REMEMBER LETS NOT LET UP UNTIL WE HAVE VICTORY A SMALL BATTLE IS WON BUT THE WAR GOES ON FIGHT FIGHT FIGHT !!!!!!!!AND DO NOT STOP CALLING AND SENDING LETTERS.

John I say temporary because it is an emergency fix until they complete 3404 which extends all dates until 2010. Most of the extensions are set to expire at the end of this year and the new bill I believe 3548 only extends until 13 weeks for those whose benefits have stopped. I have not reached eb yet but if the dates don’t change, I will lose my benefits the end of this year.

LAUREL GOOD JOB! NICE STORY..LETS PRAY IT PASSES..IM THINKING POSETIVE, NY WENT UP FURTHER IN UNEMPLOYMENT, I THINK THEY REALLY KNOW WE NEED IT..I WROTE TO MY CONGRESSMAN AND SENATORS AGAIN YESTERDAY! LETS BEAT IT TO DEATH TILL ITS DONE!

Thanks Mary , It is happy to see we are at nine , I dont mean I dont want us to get better but they where munipulating our numbers to look lower before so NY looked not so bad (ceneter of the moneyfor country)

Rebecca…

I know the feeling, I still wish for a job but since there aren’t that many, I now wish for UE extension. Wow, what is this coming to when we pray the UE are at acceptable labels to trigger additional extension. I wish that wasn’t the case, I just want to work again. Good luck to all, I am going to go for a job because that helps to relieve some of the tension. My husband just got laid off yesterday, don’t know what we are going to do?

THEY SHOULD EXTEND BENEFITS FOR ALL THE STATES THAT MONEY GOES RITE BACK INTO THE ECONOMY. HAS ANYONE HEARD ANYTHING ABOUT RAISING NY UNEMPLOYMENT PAYMENTS YET? IS THERE ANYTHING ON THE TABLE FOR IT? I HAVNT HEARD A THING.

Folks ?
This past week, Congress took some very important steps to move expand on the extension of jobless benefits sooner than later. So, now is a critical time, as the congress engages in this issue in a big way, to once more let your voices be heard to ensure that the extension is the strongest it can be to help today’s unemployed families.
As described in our updated talking points, over 400,000 Americans are estimated to run out of all of their extended unemployment benefits by the end of this month, and by the end of December 2009 a total of more than 1.3 million will exhaust all assistance. Your actions have had tremendous impact on the campaign and support in Congress is growing.
Importantly, Rep, Jim McDermott introduced streamlined legislation (HR 3548). The bill would provide 13 extra weeks of benefits to workers who run out of existing extensions this year and live in states with unemployment rates above 8.5%. The bill is important because it paves the way for quicker action by deferring the decision of the continuation of existing unemployment benefit programs until later in the year. Rep. McDermott credited jobless workers across the country for convincing him that the “time to act on extending benefits is now.”
NELP is urging Congress to go further than Rep. McDermott’s bill proposes and guarantee extra benefits to workers in every state. That means it’s critical for the senate to come through with a strong bill that can pass right away. In the Senate, on Tuesday, the Finance Committee held a critical hearing moving the ball on extended UI benefits. In NELP’S testimony, we used the opportunity to call for more weeks of benefits for all states (10 to 20 weeks, depending on the state’s unemployment rate), and a number of other critical reforms. Click here to read the testimony, and you can watch the video by clicking here. The chair of the committee ended the hearing by stating that he would introduce extension legislation “shortly,” which is major progress coming from this critical branch of the senate.
We know decisive action can’t come soon enough for so many of you are waiting urgently for Congress to act. But, the latest activities in the House and the Senate Finance Committee hearing are very positive signs of Congressional action to come. We are hopeful both House and Senate legislation will move rapidly, and will deliver benefits to workers soon. We will continue to call for more weeks of benefits for all states, and push for all the unemployment and COBRA benefits in the stimulus legislation to continue.
As we receive more definitive information, we’ll be sure to inform you. What’s for sure is that we have only gotten this far because of workers like you. Together we can keep the pressure on Congress to act immediately and deliver extra weeks of benefits to workers in every state of the country.
? Its time to contact your member of Congress again to ask for immediate action on the issue of federal extended jobless benefits, and that we can’t afford to wait any longer. With a US House vote coming up as early as next week, we need an extra push now. You can take action with this new message by clicking here:
? If you want to do more contact the key leaders in charge, and tell them Congress and the Obama Administration must act this month to swift to enact a further extension of jobless benefits. 400,000 Americans will run out of their existing extensions by the end of September. This next extension should provide 10?20 weeks of jobless benefits to workers on top of what they’ve received through the Recovery Act.” o President Obama: o Senate Majority Leader Harry Reed o House Speaker Nancy Pelosi
? We need your help to spread the word. Please email Tiphany Lee at tlee@nelp.org with your ideas for on line communities of jobless workers in your area that might join the fight for extended jobless benefits.
We post regular updates on the extended benefit situation here. Please check back regularly and tell everyone you know about unemployedworkers.org
Thanks again for everything you have already done. Best,
Andy, Tiphany, Christine, Debbie, Maurice, Judy and Rick The National Employment Law Project’s Unemployed Workers team .

NEW TODAY ON THE UNEMPLOYEDWORKERS.ORG WEBPAGE…IF YOU GO TO THE WEBSITE THEY HAVE A PRE WRITTEN FORM TO BE SENT OUT TO YOU SENATE AND CONGRESS..

NO ONE HAS BEEN IN HERE ALL DAY…OH WELL..WE WILL FIND OUT WHATS GOIN ON WED WHEN CONGRESS VOTES ON THE UNEMPLOYMENT EXTENSION.

Pauline:

Thank you for posting all those contact numbers on the new forum.
It’s really amazing that our calls, letters and e-mails can really actually produce results. I hope enough people will take the time to get involved so that there will be no gap for anybody whose EB is close to ending. I read in one of your posts that yours won’t run out until November, I guess since you had worked for a month in between, so I don’t think you will have a gap – My EB ends the end of October, and if I still don’t have a job, which looks likes will be the case, I hope that the bill will go through soon so I don’t have a gap either. I’ve been very lucky so far, as with all the extensions so far, I haven’t had a gap yet. I’m more optimistic that we will get the extension that we need, then me getting a job, which I wish didn’t have to be the case, but that is the sad reality. Thanks again for those telephone numbers and names of the people to contact.

I SAW SOMETHING ON OPEN CONGRESS THAT THEY MAY VOTE ON THE EXTENSION TUESDAY NITE…SO JUST FYI I DON’T KNOW HOW TRUE IT IS WATCH C SPAN TUESDAY MAYBE WE CAN GET SOME INFO….BUT YA KNOW WHAT I DONT LIKE ABOUT THAT WEBSITE..THERE ARE A LOT OF WACKOS ON IT AND PEOPLE FROM EVERY STATE..TOO MUCH FIGHTING ON THAT BOARD.

I’ve written to NELP and got a response from Tiphany, who is just so nice…..she is interested in any and all of our stories, below is her email link……..

Tiphany Lee

Program Assistant

National Employment Law Project

75 Maiden Lane, Suite 601

New York, NY 10038

Tel: 212.285.3025

Fax: 212.285.3044

Email: tlee@nelp.org

Web: http://www.nelp.org

YEA IF U GO TO WWW. HOUSE.GOV AND LOOK UP MCDERMET WAT EVER HIS NAME THE GUY THAT MADE HR3404 & HR3548 HE SAID THEY WILL HAVE A VOTE ON TUE SEPT 22 EARLY AFTERNOON THIS WAS SAID ON SEPT 18 LATE AFTERNOON BUT KEEP CALLING AND SENDING LETTERS UNTIL YOUR MAIL BOX HAS A CHECK IN IT TO HELP YOUR FAMILY !!!! AND AFTER THAT WE MUST KEEP PUSHING SO WE DONT HANG BY A THREAD EVERY TIME EB OR EUC RUNS OUT AT LEAST UNTIL THEY GET THE MESS THEY STARTED UNDER CONTROL WE SHOULD NOT HAVE TO STREES AS MUCH AS WE ALL HAVE BEEN !!!!!!!!!!! LETS GO COWBOYS 24-14 DALLAS !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

TONI ..YES NELP IS VERY HELPFUL..I HAVE TALKED TO CHRISTINE ON THE PHONE SEVERAL TIMES, THEY ALL DESERVE KUDOS BIG TIME! AND DIFFERENT TIME SAME WAR….YES I HEARD THEY MAY VOTE ON IT TUESDAY NITE INSTEAD OF WED. AND YES WRITE TO EVERYONE..PERSONALLY I THINK THEY SHOULD GIVE EVERYONE ON UNEMPLOYMENT IN EVERY STATE 20 WEEKS TO BOOST THE ECONOMY AND STOP WITH THIS ONLY CERTAIN STATES WITH A PERCENT OF OVER 8.5…EVERYONE NEEDS TO EAT! AND ALMOST TIME FOR HOCKEY>>>>GO REDWINGS!!!! LOL!

FOR SOME REASON WHEN I POST ON HERE FROM AOL IT DOESNT WORK..BUT WORKS FINE FROM FIREFOX…..TONI…NELP IS GREAT, I HAVE TALKED TO CHRISTINE SEVERAL TIMES , THEY ALL DESERVE KUDOS BIG TIME, THANK GOD FOR NELP! AND TO DIFFERENT TRIBE SAME WAR…I THINK EVERY STATE SHOULD GET UNEMPLOYMENT AND STOP MESSING AROUND WITH JUST STATES OVER 8.5 PERCENT..EVERYONE NEEDS TO EAT AND IT WILL HELP BOOST THE ECONOMY MORE, I HOPE CONGRESS REALIZES THIS WHEN THEY TAKE IT UP AGAIN. AND YES WRITE TO EVERYONE, I HAVE SEVERAL TIMES TO ALL OF THEM..AND HOCKEY IS ALMOST READY TO ROLL>>>GO REDWINGS! LOL!

Laurie,?

You’re welcome… I like the new forum – it’s a nice counter-part to this one for finding and posting good info. easily. Pretty clever!

I can’t see there will be a gap with the HR3548 since it’s for people currently running out of benefits hence the term “temporary emergency bill”… can’t say for sure, but it would make sense.

Yep, I had some temp work which brings me through the beginning of November; and may have some next week? – 2 interviews today… looking for work in these time is not 9-5 , but 24/7 so we need even more faith and though not an easy task, achievable.

I agree, hopefully, everyone takes the time to get involved… It helps!

Have a nice weekend.?

Pauline:

Yes, Joseph’s idea to start the other forum was a very good one, especially in the way that it’s broken up into specific topics so there aren’t too many comments all in one place – Very clever, indeed.

It does look like the legislators are on our side, and that most of us will not have a gap between the end of our present EB and the hopefully approved additional weeks.

I really like your attitude, and it’s good to try and stay positive and focused, despite all the negativity and discouraging numbers. Much props to you for never giving up and getting even some temporary spots – If anything, if and when they end, at least it prolongs your extension so that you have even less of a chance of having a gap. Good to hear a little positive vibes – I wish I could find some temp work too, but so far, no dice – It seems like anything that might be available right now is temp – I no longer call a full time job a “permanent job,” as I’ve learned that nothing is permanent anymore. I just call it a more stable job….God Save Us All!

SORRY FOR THE SAME POST TWICE, GUESS IT DOES GO THROUGH ON AOL SOMETIMES BUT IT DOESNT APPEAR LIKE IT DID! LETS GO CONGRESS! LETS GO CONGRESS! PAULINE… I WROTE TO THE MODERATOR LAST NITE BECAUSE IT LOOKED LIKE THE BOARD HAD STOPPED, AND HE TOOK THE EDIT BUTTIN OFF…I LIKED IT! WISH HE WOULD PUT IT BACK!

Susanny,

Yes, the edit feature is cool, just have to spell-check more accurately – didn’t even know the site was down.

Let’s go Congress!… lol I guess we’ll see what happens on Tuesday or Wednesday.

Have a nice evening.?

PAULINE I WISH THEY WOULD PUT THAT EDIT FEATURE BACK…..AND YES LETS GO CONGRESS LETS GET THIS PASSED SO IT CAN GO TO SENATE AND GET SIGNED ASAPPPPPP!!! HAVE A NICE EVENING EVERYONE…

http://www.nelp.org/page/speakout/ExtBenefitsNow%20 COPY AND PASTE IT TO YOUR BROWSER AND FILL IT OUT ! I JUST RECIEVED ANOTHER EMAIL FROM NELP GO HERE AND SIGN THE PRE WRITTEN FORM TO SEND TO YOUR CONGRESSMAN TODAY! THEY WILL BE VOTING ON EXTENDING BENEFITS IN STATES 8.5 PERCENT AND ABOVE AS EARLY AS TUESDAY…SO FILL OUT THIS FORM AND FLOOD CONGRSS WITH EMAILS….GIT R DONE!

I wrote to my congressman, Charles Rangel. He has been very receptive to extensions in the past. He helped pave the way for EUC.

SUSANNY……thanks for that link…..i just sent my congressman the form letter, along with friends and family members i sent the link to…..59 in all…..everyone should send that letter, not just the unemployed, but their families and friends as well……its ez to send them the link, and it literally takes 15 seconds to fill out your address……

TONI..GOOD CUZ THIS FORM IS JUST FOR CONGRESS BECAUSE OF TUESDAY THEY ARE VOTING ON IT MAYBE TUES EVENING..THEN I WONDER HOW LONG IT WILL TAKE TO GET TO THE SENATE FOR A VOTE..HOPE IT GOES QUICK..

http://www.politico.com/blogs/politicolive/0909/Obama_Job_numbers_wont_improve_this_year.html?showall…HERES A GOOD LINK TO A STORY TODAY ON POLITICO.COM…OBAMA SAYS JOBS WONT IMPROVE TILL NEXT YEAR AND WILL WORSEN FIRST! I THINK HES A BIT TOO OPTIMISTIC SAYING NEXT YEAR. I HAVE READ TONS OF ARTICLES THAT SAY THE JOB MARKET WONT BE BACK TO NORMAL FOR A FEW YEARS. JUST LOOK AT THE JOB NUMBERS IN THE STATES, I DON’T THINK ANY IMPROVED! BUT AT LEAST HE KNOWS ITS NOT GONNA IMPROVE SOON….SO IM BEING POSITIVE THEY WILL PASS ANOTHER EXTENSION ON TUES. AND I HOPE IT GETS TO THE SENATE FAST AS LIGHTENING! THAT MAY A BIT DELUSIONAL ON MY PART! LOL!

I have a friend who’s company has him working everyday, a few hours one day, a few hours another. Essentially he is not getting a 40 hour week. Since this company has him legitimately coming to work everyday, even though he was previously full time, is he entitled to any EB? My friend believes they do this to avoid claims against his company.

Despite predictions the Great Recession is running out of steam, the House is taking up emergency legislation this week to help the millions of Americans who see no immediate end to their economic miseries.

A bill offered by Rep. Jim McDermott, D-Wash., and expected to pass easily would provide 13 weeks of extended unemployment benefits for more than 300,000 jobless people who live in states with unemployment rates of at least 8.5 percent and who are scheduled to run out of benefits by the end of September.

The 13-week extension would supplement the 26 weeks of benefits most states offer and the federally funded extensions of up to 53 weeks that Congress approved in legislation last year and in the stimulus bill enacted last February.

People from North Carolina to California “have been calling my office to tell me they still cannot find work a year or more after becoming unemployed, and they need some additional help to keep their heads above water,” McDermott said.

Critics of unemployment insurance argue that it can be a disincentive to looking for work, and that extending benefits at a time the economy is showing signs of recovery could be counterproductive.

But this recession has been particularly pernicious to the job market, others say.

They include Alabama, Arizona, California, District of Columbia, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Massachusetts, Michigan, Mississippi, Missouri, Nevada, New Jersey, North Carolina, New York, Ohio, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Puerto Rico, South Carolina, Tennessee, Washington, Wisconsin and West Virginia. 8.5%

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