Unemployed Californians with federal benefit extension claims are facing the loss of that income, with Congress and the president having yet to approve renewing the extensions.
The California Employment Development Department said it has notified 222,000 long-term unemployed individuals with extension claims in California that they will lose their federally funded extended unemployment benefits by year's end unless Congress and President Obama take action.
The budget currently being considered in Congress does not include an extension of federal unemployment benefits, which are scheduled to end on Dec. 28, according to the state.
The Employment Development Department said it sent out notices advising affected claimants that the week ending Dec. 28 will be the last week any federal extension benefits can be paid, even if someone is still unemployed and/or has a remaining balance on their extension.
That means that unless Congress acts there will be no phase-out of these benefits – all federal extension payments will come to an end at the same time, the agency said.
The state said approximately one-third of the more than 712,000 people currently certifying for unemployment benefits in California are long-term unemployed who receive federal extensions.
On Dec. 12, Gov. Jerry Brown wrote to Congress, asking that the federal unemployment benefits be extended, noting that they “have provided much needed financial relief to Californians during and since the Great Recession.”
Brown added, “There are more than 214,000 Californians and 1.3 million Americans that are currently collecting federal extension benefits. These workers will suffer irreparable harm if these federal benefits are allowed to expire.”
The U.S Senate has indicated there may be some interest in reauthorizing federal extension benefits early in January, and the Obama Administration has released information about federal extensions in a report prepared by the U.S. Department of Labor and the Council of Economic Advisers entitled “The Economic Benefits of Extending Unemployment Insurance.”
Late last year, the fate of the extensions also was in doubt until Congress reached a last-minute agreement on renewing the four-tiers of federal extension benefits until the end of 2013.
That legislation eventually reduced the maximum federal extension benefits currently available in California to 37 weeks and extended the benefits only until the end of 2013.
Federal extensions of unemployment benefits first became available in California in June 2008 and since then a total of more than $41 billion in extension benefits have been paid in the state.
Once offering up to 73 additional weeks of unemployment after someone ran out of their regular up to 26 weeks of state-provide benefits, federal extensions will now provide up to 37 additional weeks of benefits.
In the event Congress does enact legislation within a reasonable time, the Employment Development Department said it will automatically file and send out the forms to those who have been collecting the benefits so claimants would not need to contact the department.
For updates on the federal unemployment insurance extensions issue, visit http://www.edd.ca.gov/Unemployment/Federal_Unemployment_Insurance_Extensions.htm .