Tom Joseph
HARRISBURG, Pa. - More than 130,000 Pennsylvanians are at risk of losing their unemployment benefits, if Congress lets federal support for extended unemployment insurance expire as scheduled at the end of November. A new poll from Hart Research Associates indicates 60 percent of Americans favor extending those benefits, compared to 37 percent who say they don't.
John Dodds, director of the Philadelphia Unemployment Project, agrees. He says the timing is wrong to let the payments lapse.
"We think it's extremely hard-hearted to be cutting off people's only source of income during the holiday season."
The time to cut the deficit is after the economy has rebounded more, Dodds says.
"The deficit is really created by the fact that we have such a high unemployment rate, such a bad economy, and extended unemployment benefits is one of the best stimuluses that we can have."
Continuing the support would not add weeks of unemployment insurance, just pay for the additional weeks now available. Benefits for an estimated 2 million people nationally would be cut off in December unless Congress extends federal support. Republicans in Congress have said they do not want to increase the deficit to continue help for the unemployed.
Grant McLoughlin, executive vice-president with Drexel Hill-based Fresh Grocer, says the economy and unemployment have a full-circle effect on business. The number of people he hires is directly impacted by whether customers, employed or not, can afford to keep spending money in his stores, he explains.
"Our customer base is predominantly economically-challenged. If we suffer on the top line, then we're going to be forced to cut back our workforce, which is only going to put more folks in the ranks of the unemployed."
Congress has never ended these benefits when the unemployment rate is above seven percent, and would have to act within the next two weeks to avoid doing so now.
More information is available from the National Employment Law Project at www.nelp.org.
John Dodds, director of the Philadelphia Unemployment Project, agrees. He says the timing is wrong to let the payments lapse.
"We think it's extremely hard-hearted to be cutting off people's only source of income during the holiday season."
The time to cut the deficit is after the economy has rebounded more, Dodds says.
"The deficit is really created by the fact that we have such a high unemployment rate, such a bad economy, and extended unemployment benefits is one of the best stimuluses that we can have."
Continuing the support would not add weeks of unemployment insurance, just pay for the additional weeks now available. Benefits for an estimated 2 million people nationally would be cut off in December unless Congress extends federal support. Republicans in Congress have said they do not want to increase the deficit to continue help for the unemployed.
Grant McLoughlin, executive vice-president with Drexel Hill-based Fresh Grocer, says the economy and unemployment have a full-circle effect on business. The number of people he hires is directly impacted by whether customers, employed or not, can afford to keep spending money in his stores, he explains.
"Our customer base is predominantly economically-challenged. If we suffer on the top line, then we're going to be forced to cut back our workforce, which is only going to put more folks in the ranks of the unemployed."
Congress has never ended these benefits when the unemployment rate is above seven percent, and would have to act within the next two weeks to avoid doing so now.
More information is available from the National Employment Law Project at www.nelp.org.
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