Unemployment Benefits Extension 2010 Updates

This page will contain the latest information on unemployment benefits extension information in 2010.

How the current unemployment benefits tiers work

Currently, Americans can qualify for the following unemployment benefits:

• 26 weeks of benefits offered by their state.
  Tier 1 – 20 weeks – paid by the government via the stimulus bill.
  Tier 2 – 14 weeks
  Tier 3 – 13 weeks if the state unemployment rate is 6% or higher.
  Tier 4 – 6 weeks if the state unemployment rate is 8.5% or higher.

Tier 1 through 4 are also known as Emergency Unemployment Compensation (EUC).

It is important to know is that the state unemployment benefits is the only permanent program on the list. All the unemployment benefit “Tiers” are temporary programs with expiry dates after which they won’t be funded anymore. Each tier has a “filing deadline” which is the date by which someone has to apply for a new tier of unemployment benefits.

All the four tiers have a filing deadline of June 2, 2010.

This means that in order to receive benefits for any given tier, you have to be eligible for that tier before June 2, 2010. This doesn’t mean your benefits will disappear on June 2, only that you can’t start a new tier of benefits after that date. You can’t be eligible for a new unemployment benefit tier until you have completed your current tier.

There have been several extensions given so far and the government is currently working to try to continue with these extensions.

I’m receiving EUC benefits right now – will they stop on June 2?

No, if you are currently receiving benefits as part of EUC or Tier 1,2,3 or 4 then you will receive benefits until the end of that tier. For example if you have received 5 weeks of benefits as part of Tier 3 (13 weeks) then you will still receive the remaining 8 weeks even though those payments will go past June 2.

My current tier of unemployment runs out after June 2 – can I still get the next tier?

No, that’s where the filing deadline comes into play. The filing deadline only affects people who are starting a new unemployment tier. If the filing deadline has gone past and you are trying to receive benefits for a new tier of unemployment then you will not be successful unless the filing deadline is extended.

Example – person continue to receive benefits after filing deadline

Susan is currently receiving benefits from Tier 3 which provides 13 weeks of benefits. She has 9 weeks to go but most of those weeks are after June 2. Since she has already started Tier 3 then she will continue to get benefits until her Tier 3 allocation is finished.

Example – Person can’t get to next tier after filing deadline

John is currently receiving benefits from Tier 3 which provides 13 weeks of benefits. He has just a couple of weeks to go but his Tier 3 runs out just after June 2. Since he will be applying for Tier 3 after the June 2 filing deadline then he won’t be eligible for anymore unemployment benefits unless the filing deadline is extended.

Does this have anything to do with creating new tiers of unemployment benefits?

No, there has been discussion of creating a Tier 5 extension for “99ers” who have exhausted all 99 weeks of available benefits but that is not discussed on this page.

http://washingtonindependent.com/77922/unemployment-extension-does-not-create-additional-benefits

http://washingtonindependent.com/85310/unemployment-extension-bill-coming-today