Write Your Legislatures Urging them to Extend Unemployment Benefits. The Moneys Are in Place, Thanks to the Bailout Dollars.

March 30, 2009

Dear Friends,

Greetings from the National Employment Law Project, and our unemployment information action site, www.unemployedworkers.org!

We are urging you to take action to extend unemployment benefits. As many of you know, the federal government is providing up to 33 weeks of federal emergency unemployment compensation (EUC) benefits to workers in high unemployment benefits.

However, there are over 1 million workers who are reaching the end of these Tier II EUC benefits in these high unemployment states. Fortunately, allies of jobless workers slipped an EXTENSION OF THE EXTENSION into Section 2005 of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA)-that gave states the option of providing 13-20 weeks of benefits on top of the EUC program.

The details of this extension have been largely ignored. You can learn more about all the extended benefits programs by visiting our website HERE.

The bottom line is that some high unemployment states have to pass STATE LEGISLATION to get jobless workers all they deserve out of this 3rd extension of benefits (which is known simply as EB, extended benefits).

The states where action must be taken are: **ALABAMA, ARIZONA, DC, FLORIDA, GEORGIA, INDIANA, ILLINOIS, KENTUCKY, MAINE, MASSACHUSETTS, MISSISSIPPI MISSOURI, NEW YORK, OHIO, PUERTO RICO, SOUTH CAROLINA AND TENNESSEE.** In most of these states, legislation is already proposed to make the necessary changes to pay the maximum EB benefits.

**NOW, WE NEED YOUR HELP TO BUILD PUBLIC PRESSURE TO GET THIS LEGISLATION PASSED.**

Please take a moment to contact your state legislator by visiting NELP's action center HERE

It's imperative that you act today, and share this link with all your friends: http://www.nelp.org/page/speakout/EB324

Thanks again for your patience as we retool our website.

We look forward to being in touch.

Sincerely,
Andy, Christine, Debbie, Judy, Rick and Maurice The National Employment Law Project

P.S. If you have question or comments please email unemployedworkers.org@gmail.com

Our Postal Address: 75 Maiden Lane Suite 601 New York, New York 10038 United States

LET THE REVOLUTION BEGIN!

Thanks for all you do!
Live your values. Love your country.
And, remember: TOGETHER, We can make a DIFFERENCE!

FAIR USE NOTICE: This blog may contain copyrighted material. Such material is made available for educational purposes, to advance understanding of human rights, democracy, scientific, moral, ethical, and social justice issues, etc. This constitutes a ‘fair use’ of any such copyrighted material as provided for in Title 17 U.S.C. section 107 of the US Copyright Law. In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, the material on this site is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes. If you wish to use copyrighted material from this site for purposes of your own that go beyond ‘fair use’, you must obtain permission from the copyright owner.

Tell AIG What YOU Think!

Tell AIG what you think!
Public Citizen staffers will personally deliver your messages to a House subcommittee hearing tomorrow.

March 17, 2009.

Dear fellow Americans,

When news broke that insurance giant AIG planned to dole out more than $165 million in bonuses to company executives, I, along with the rest of Public Citizen, was outraged.

We immediately got to work determining how to respond. We developed a plan - and we need you to take action today.

Tomorrow, AIG CEO, Edward M. Liddy, will testify before a House subcommittee examining how AIG got into its current ecomonic mess and why it needs so much taxpayer bailout money.

We know you have thoughts and opinions about AIG's behavior, and we want to hear them. E-mail us by 10 p.m. with the message you would like to send to Liddy

Public Citizen staffers will print out the messages and personally deliver them tomorrow to Liddy, Congress and members of the press. That's right. This is your chance to tell Liddy and policymakers exactly what you think. We're also going to post them on our Web site. We'll publish your first name only (or let us know if you prefer us to keep your comment anonymous).

It's time to put an end to this era of irresponsible behavior and wasteful spending. The fact that companies like AIG are taking taxpayer money - YOUR money - while handing out millions of dollars in bonuses to people who oversaw the company's downfall is an outrage.

We need all the support we can muster to send a message that this is unacceptable. Please send us your comments today, and forward this blog post to your friends and colleagues. Urge them to send a message to Liddy too.

We must make our voices heard loud and clear tomorrow at the hearing.

Thank you for all you do,
Maureen Backman
Public Citizen

LET THE REVOLUTION BEGIN!

Thanks for all you do!
Live your values. Love your country.
And, remember: TOGETHER, We can make a DIFFERENCE!

FAIR USE NOTICE: This blog may contain copyrighted material. Such material is made available for educational purposes, to advance understanding of human rights, democracy, scientific, moral, ethical, and social justice issues, etc. This constitutes a ‘fair use’ of any such copyrighted material as provided for in Title 17 U.S.C. section 107 of the US Copyright Law. In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, the material on this site is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes. If you wish to use copyrighted material from this site for purposes of your own that go beyond ‘fair use’, you must obtain permission from the copyright owner.

ACTION ALERT! Tell Congress to Support Unemployment Insurance Reform as Part of Economic Recovery

Dear Friends --

We need your help right away to make the case to Congress that the economic recovery legislation now being debated should help all hard-working families collect unemployment benefits. As described below, please email your Congressional Representatives and Senators to support the Unemployment Insurance Modernization Act.

(Link to Email Congress)

Although you may be receiving unemployment insurance checks right now, did you know that only 37% of unemployed workers actually receive unemployment? True, some lose or quit their jobs under circumstances that leave them ineligible to collect unemployment, but far too many workers, especially low wage and women workers, fall through the cracks of the system.

That's because their states still have eligibility rules developed for the workforce of the Great Depression, not today’s workforce in which people work part-time in order to help balance their work and family responsibilities, in which there is a larger low-wage workforce than ever before (ONE in THREE jobs), and in which people, largely women, have to involuntarily leave their jobs because of compelling family circumstances such as caring for an ill child or moving because of a spouse’s mandatory job transfer.

An important piece of federal legislation, the Unemployment Insurance Modernization Act (UIMA), would provide states with generous financial incentives ($7 billion) to enact reforms of their programs that about 20 states have already enacted. These reforms have a proven track-record of making sure that more deserving workers qualify for unemployment when they lose their jobs through no fault of their own. The states that have already enacted these reforms will also be rewarded with generous grants that they can use to continue to expand and improve coverage.

If passed, the UIMA would also provide ALL states with much needed money ($500 million) to help improve their administration and delivery of benefits. As we have heard from so many of you, the states are really struggling to process your unemployment claims and get back to families with the unemployment checks. So this federal money to the states is desperately needed to help the state unemployment agencies staff up and fix their crashing systems.

As tough as things might be for you right now (only receiving unemployment insurance rather than a paycheck), imagine how much worse it would be if you didn’t even receive those UI checks. That’s the situation the UIMA is designed to remedy.

By clicking this link, you will be able to send an email to your representatives in Congress, telling them to support the UIMA and include it in the economic stimulus and recovery legislation that will be enacted early this year. We need your help right away, as Congress and President-elect Obama are very close to making final decisions about the economic recovery legislation, including the UIMA.

The clock is ticking and the economy is continuing to shed jobs. PLEASE take just a few short minutes of your time to HELP SUPPORT this important initiative that will help cover approximately 500,000 MORE workers qualify for unemployment benefits with the help of the Unemployment Insurance Modernization Act.

Here's a link to our fact sheet with more details on the UIMA.

Many thanks!

Maurice, Andy, Judy, Christine and Debbie, NELP

LET THE REVOLUTION BEGIN!

Thanks for all you do!
Live your values. Love your country.
And, remember: TOGETHER, We can make a DIFFERENCE!

FAIR USE NOTICE: This blog may contain copyrighted material. Such material is made available for educational purposes, to advance understanding of human rights, democracy, scientific, moral, ethical, and social justice issues, etc. This constitutes a ‘fair use’ of any such copyrighted material as provided for in Title 17 U.S.C. section 107 of the US Copyright Law. In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, the material on this site is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes. If you wish to use copyrighted material from this site for purposes of your own that go beyond ‘fair use’, you must obtain permission from the copyright owner.