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Tennessee 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,”

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Part of Obama’s 2009 stimulus package was 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 the economic climate is bad enough.  This is usually measured by the unemployment rate.

The unemployment rate in Tennesse was 9.9% for April 2009 which is up from 6.0% in April of last year.  This is the highest unemployment rate in 25 years.  Tennesse has qualified for $141 million to pay for extended benefits as well as upgrades to the benefit infrastructure.

What unemployment benefits are available now?

Currently Tennessee will pay benefits for 26 weeks which is the normal payout period.  There is another 33 weeks which is available because of the 2009 stimulus package for a total of 59 weeks.


Unemployed workers can get up to $275 per week in benefits plus a bonus $25 a week from the federal government for a total of $300 per week.

Will the unemployment benefits be extended by another 20 weeks?

[edit – please note that this bill has been passed]

Currently there is a bill called HB 2324 which if passed will increase benefits by up to 20 weeks.  If the claimant has any children the bill will also add on $15 per week per child up to 3 kids.  This bill has not been made law yet but you can check on the status of the bill here.  At the moment (May 22) it says that it is scheduled for the Finance, Means and Ways committe for May 27.  This bill was first introduced on Feb 26 so it is taking a long time.

Once the bill is passed by the FMW committee then it will go to the house and senate and lastly the governor.

There is a very good chance that unemployment benefits will be extended by 20 weeks however the slow machine of politics means that it might take a while.

693 replies on “Tennessee Unemployment Benefits Extension – 20 More Weeks?”

Bob- I just checked online and they have posted my finial 20 weeks. I still don’t know anything about keeping the job search log. I am guessing they will mail me something… If you find out please post or email me directly cdtreadway@yahoo.com. Right now i am just keeping everything wrote down so i can transfer it if need be.
Thanks-

hello all….i exausted tier 4 on 5/30…looking at the website i see that im receiving 5 weeks retro out of my eb…looking today another check has been issued….when am i going to receive this work-search log? i have not received any paperwork of any kind since the termination letter over two months ago…..

My check for week ending 06/04/11 was deposited in my account today and the system is showing my check for we 06/11/11 will be deposited tomorrow…. so it looks like this part of the system is working. I did get the question yesterday when I certified , about the work log…. I guess someone will send me a letter eventually explaining it until then I will just go ahead and do it myself. Finally things look to be working…. so hope the rest of you are having the same thing happen.

I have just read the thread that has gone on with Dwayne and a few of you. Apparently a bunch of you do not know what a great guy, resource and open book Dwayne has been for this forum. AND how much he has helped all of us WHO HAVE HAD NO IDEA what is going on with our unemployment benefits! Congrats to you all for chasing him off. Good show. I thank you Dwayne for all the help that you have given me. To the ones who made this political- shame on you.

@shannon
wow, all the sudden you state “you all”..can you put names with that…i dont like to be include in your bias decision…so be brave grasshopper and state names instead of bunching US together….btw=fyi=ive told him many times i appreciate his input…

also= he’s the one that made the decision to bite on the political hook…grown men make their own decisions to leave

@ knoxtn
Thanks and if you find anything about the mail in job-search requirements, I be appreciative.

Dwayne… You have been more help than anyone. Just because some po’ed you doesn’t mean you should drop out of this blog. Come back and we will be appreciative???

You can say that again. If you can dish it be prepared to take it. I dont think it was a matter of anyone running him off, he made his own decision to do that, just like the one he made to start a debate. We all have our own opinion and sharing them openly and freely is easy however learning when and where to voice your platform takes skill and wisdom.

as far as a few of us running him off, I think the argument was between him and one other person? what am I missing here?

WELL GOT MY RETRO CHECK YESTERDAY FOR THE 6 WEEKS BETWEEN APRIL 28 TILL MAY 28.. WAS A VERY WELCOME SITE.. THEY SENT THE WORK SEARCH PAPER ALSO BUT WHEN I TRY TO CERTIFY IT SAYS I HAVE EXAUSTED BENEFITS, BUT COULD TAKE UP TO 28 DAYS FOR DECISION TO BE MADE ON EXTENDED SO JUST KEEP CHECKING.. DEWAYNE, THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR YOUR HELP AND FOR EVERYONES COMMENTS ALSO.. HAS BEEN VERY HELPFUL…

earth to dwayne, come in dwayne=i thank you also for your time and much need support…..

Has anyone received their monetary entitlement notice yet? I was told last Friday June 10th that mailouts started the previous day and are continuing. I think receipt of your notification coincides with you having been reset in the system. I’ve only been able to access payment type info online but was told over the phone that I did have funds remaining. It’s hard being patient when there is so little information, and on that note a big Thank You to Dewayne!

hello all,,,,quick question….im just entering eb and received my work search today. it states=

If you are not currently registered for work and reemployment services with a Tennessee Career Center, you
must file a Job Service application immediately at your nearest Tennessee Career Center.

do i have to go down there and do this,,im just asking because this place is 45 miles away…..please someone who is currenly receiving eb let me know…

hello all…i have a quick question…im now entering the 20 week eb…i just received a letter today with my first work search…i also states that i have to go to the tennessee career center to apply for work=its a little confusing…does everyone have to do this…i live in a little town and this place if about an hour away by car and 4 hours by bus…

3rd time trying to post this question….i just entered eb…i received a letter today along with my first work search log…on one page it states that i have to go to the Tennessee career center and enter a application..i was wondering if everyone has to do this because this place is 3 hours away on bus=6 hour round trip…please can someone else on extended benefits let me know….thanks

Thank you Shannon and the rest of you for your positive comments, they are and already have been greatly appreciated. The reason I chose to back off was because I am a strongly opinionated person when it comes to the discussion of the Democrat party as it is associated with veterans. I even stated, it was a very hot button issue with me, and has nothing to do with “thin skin.”

Since it was brought up, I will state again. In Feb 1992, the govt came out with a program to cut personnel and close bases. To make a long story as short as I can, in my career field, like many others, they were going to cut 65%, E-4 through E-6, with 9-12 yrs of service. I fell right in between both requirements. The one request we had was keep us updated with how the drawdown was going, that way, those of us who wanted to make a career would better know where they stood. What we was told was, and I quote, “absolutely not, those who do not accept the benefit(small monetary) and leave, if we don’t reach 65%, you may face a reduction in force board, get possibly booted anyway without receiving any benefits.”

So, we signed up to receive the benefit, then after we did, they turned around and started updating how many were getting out, but, the ones who signed up, couldn’t change. We contacted our Commanders all the way up to our Politicians, but was told their was nothing they could do about it(Democrat controlled House, Senate and President, even though the initial bill did go through President Bush, with the bill being proposed by a RHINO and democrat in the democrat controlled house and senate, he “crossed the aisle” in the name of bi-partisanship and signed off on it.) So we were left kind of in the same situation as we are now, I had chosen a later separation date than some others, and when I got out, it was very hard to find a good job. Over 300,000 total had been added to the job market and while they were jobs available, a lot of the “specialized professions” were not hiring, LE, Fire and Emergency Services were full.

Yet, every time I hear a Democrat politician on TV being interviewed about the Clinton Balanced Budget and Surplus, not one word is mentioned about the sacrifice we made in balancing that budget, by the govt being able to save through payroll, benefits, retirements, weapons systems and programs cut from the DOD. Billions of dollars in itself. Its always about the tax being raised. We often talk about how we are just numbers and statistics, BUT I AND MANY OTHERS LIKE ME ARE STATISTICS! Do you realize a good portion of the homeless are military vets, who come back to the civilian world, yet, they have trouble fitting in, because in their world they have just came from, things are pretty much black and white. We took care of each other and helped the ones in trouble. Out here it’s “your own your own buddy and don’t be so thinned skinned about it.”

Under President Reagan, the military seen it’s highest pay raise, seen it weapons and support systems upgraded like never before. I was in Germany for the fall of the wall and witnessed the first of the Soviet Union breakup, due to President Reagan causing the Soviets to go bankrupt, because they could not keep up with our spending and when he introduced Star Wars, even though for the most part, it was just propaganda, that was the straw that broke the camels back. Joy everywhere, Forgotten under the Clinton administration. When President George Bush went into Afghanistan, and then Iraq, to keep the terrorist fight over there, instead of on our shores, he was criticized by, Wrangel, Clinton, Durban, etc etc, for stretching the military too thin, even though the Dems nearly 10 yrs before, had cut our throats. Fast forward to today, Obama has spent money and resources in Libya, sent support to Egypt, and the Palestinians, etc and now, increasing our presence in Yemen. They want it both ways, when a Republican does it, it is for oil and money, when a Dem does it, it’s for Democracy and Freedom. I will not set by silently when this is portrayed.

Now do you understand why I backed out?? Yes, I bit the hook, because it is a subject very near and dear to my heart, I seen a lot of careers ruined, just so the budget could be balanced. Why do you think the Dems want to pull out of Afgan and Iraq so bad?? Once they’re out, our military will be hacked again. Secretary Gates has already said that he cannot maintain the military, with the cuts that are already trying to be made.

To the ones that spoke fondly, thank you and I greatly appreciate it. To the ones that said I was the one that responded back, yes I did, what would happen here if I brought abortion up?? A very hot button issue, and I promise at least half of you would defend your position on it. I slept in foxholes in Germany in below zero temps. I walked around B-52’s in Arkansas for 12-16 hours in August, when the parking area asphalt was above 140 degrees. I wore the gas mask and insulated chem gear during wartime simulations/exercise for 12-16 hours at a time in 100+ degree temp. Yea, I’ve earned the right to defend the vets. If that steps on some toes, it’s you that need to become more thick skinned. I didn’t bring up the initial bashing and I warned why I felt the way I did. I’m still around, just trying to maintain the integrity of the blog. I am a moderator on a forum, so I fully understand how hard it is to keep the piece.

Thanks again

Dwayne

At Zach and Robert. You have to be registered with the career centers for the job search, that way, if they get a job that you are qualified for, they can notify you. When you go to register, explain how far you are away and they will give you some websites to go to(one official TN site that the career center uses), that way you can look for a job at home. If you see a job your interested in, if it’s the career center site, you take the job number down and call the career center and tell them you are interested in it. All you have to do is be registered with them and fill out an application, so they can try and match you with jobs. You can print the work search logs off the TNDLWD, fill them out and mail them in every 4 weeks. Hope that helps.

Dwayne

Dwayne
Good to see you back. The current bill in the house may make all this discussion irrelevant. If states accept the funds for the unemployed extension and use it to “refill” the coffers….well we will see.

As far as registering, didn’t we do that when the initial claim was filed?

Guy,

You are too sharp to get sucked in with a debate. We need direction.

@Bob, if you have already been to the career center and filled out a application for work, just like you would on a job, then yes, all they are worried about there is just so they can call you if a job is open that you qualify for. You may want to call them just to make sure, in case some other requirement hasn’t came up, but that is the only one I know about.

As far as getting sucked into the discussion. I don’t look at it as being sucked in, I look at it as defending, because most folks who haven’t been in the military or haven’t had a family member that served in that time, don’t know. The reason I say this, even on the conservative talk shows, it is never mentioned, because it was never talked about. If you weren’t affected by it, the chance of you not knowing is great. I just won’t let the statement go unanswered. I will explain how Clinton was able to balance his budget. It was on our backs.

Thanks though.

Dwayne

As far as the bill being introduced in the house and senate that would divert the funds for unemployment. I promise you, it is a political ploy to get the Democrats back to the table to talk about cutting the budget. Think about it, State Sen Ramsey, said he would not sign the unemployment extension here in TN, yet he signed and then Gov Haslam signed also. Behind closed doors, there was promises made, “if you do this for us, we’ll do this for you.” If these politicians could sit down and talk like men, then this political “sabre rattling” wouldn’t happen. Just as soon as these bills were introduced, how many phone calls and emails do you think these reps got?? Now they are thinking, maybe we better find other ways to cut the budget. There are certain Republicans and Democrats that sit on the fence now, and will turn if they feel any pressure. It’ll never go through as long as both parties sit down and talk. Sabre rattling, nothing more.

And I won’t talk about them because they are such hot topic issues, but something has to be done with social security and medicare before they go broke, and to get the politicians to sit down and talk about these issues, threats by other politicians, have to be made, that’s all this is.

Dwayne

@Zach. Thanks! I really am a nice guy, just opinionated and not ashamed to admit it! 🙂

Dwayne

@ Zachary
Guy, you just took this blog to a bad place. We are not about “smoking the bong” You give ammo to the wrong people. Better level please.

@ Zachary

Sorry, I didn’t mean to offend. During one of the votes last year a Senator from Utah insisted on attaching a drug test to his vote for unemployment benefits. I may have just been a little sensitive to the issue.

@Bob
no man, its me that apologizes….your right=wrong forum for that…i don’t even smoke….

Got the work serch logs first of the week going to be hard to fill out when you have applied for every job out there that your quaflied for in the last year and half.

Has anybody had there work serch logs checked ? Some employers may loose your contact info.

I have been patiently waiting for several weeks. Until last Monday (6/13/11) i have had a $0.00 balance since the end of April. When I logged into “view my benefits” last monday it finally showed a balance. So naturally I tried to certify. After entering my SS# and pin# the next screen said “Your certification for this week cannot be processed as timely” I tried again last Tues, Thurs, and Fri, same result. I just tried again today (6/21/11) and same message appeared so I googled the message and it brought me to this forum.

Is this still happening for other people? Do I need to call the number to the Nashville office and sit on hold for a whole afternoon? My wife and I share 700 mins a month and naturally the office isn’t open when I have free minutes. Any info someone might have would be much appreciated.

Thanks in advance for any help.

@chris
hey bud, i dont know if you exhausted tier 4 or on 20 week eb as of 4/16……
if you were cut off tier 4 on 4/16, you should already be receiving your retro pay and two weeks of weekly……i dont know about people that were on eb=20 weeks as of 4/16 if they are reinstated..when you call the unemployment office, i just push 1 for english, then 5 right after….i connect within 1 min everytime….let us know..

Wow! It does seem when most got the info they needed they went on….We all will need help not only today but maybe in the future>

Chris…it sounds to me as if you may need to start a new claim year.
Each year of unemployment you have to file a new claim when it is your benefit year end (bye) date. When in doubt email TDOL or Mr. Partlow at
TDOL. He has helped many of us when in trouble. He just needs your name and last 4 digits of social.

Thanks for the help. To answer a few questions…I was drawing eb up till it was shut off on april 16 . I had 6 weeks left on my balance. However my bye was 4-29-10. things got all messed up in the beginning cuz of the vacation pay question on the weekly cert. My company had just payed me my remaining vacation days. Took me 3 months to get that fixed.

Still not sure about the audits in the job search category. Never thought I would be here this long….I guess none of us did. Hard to transfer skills you have learned and dedicated to a workplace for years to another job.

@ Zachary: you and me bro, maybe we can help others like Dwayne did???

I’m hoping that losing my job will end up being a blessing in disguise. I was working in a steel warehouse having to survive the intense heat and humidity that the mountains provide. My last day of work was 3-27-2009. 5 days later, 4-2-09, I was at a school enrolling for an associates degree in IT. 45 days aftet that, I was attending my first day of classes. Now I have less than 6 months till I graduate. hopefully I didn’t just dig myself in deeper by borrowing Federal loans to pay for school and still be unable to find a job in a totally new field than I was currently working in.

@ Lynn
Thanks for the email address. I will email him shortly.

When I first filed for unemployment almost a year ago I was told that I did not have to go to the local unemployment office that I could register with them online ….. so I did and have been applying for job through that site as they are available. I did see somewhere… I don’t recall on what… that I needed to go by the local unemployment office and re-register with them. Does anyone know anything about this? I just received my letter last week and it doesn’t say anything except that I need send in work search logs…. Has anyone else been told or seen that you have to go re-register at the local office?

@frannie. I’m no expert, and don’t work for the State. When I became unemployed, along with doing the online unemployment filing, I also had to go by the local office and fill out basically a work application. Just like you would do if you were applying for a job, that way, they know what jobs you are qualified for and if any came along they could notify you. I don’t know if things have changed since then, but a quick phone call to your local office should be able to answer that question.

Hope that helps.

Dwayne

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