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House passes unemployment extension bill
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share thisHARRISBURG - The state House of Representatives on Tuesday passed legislation that could help as many as 57,000 Pennsylvanians avoid losing unemployment benefits in the near future, according to state Rep. Robert E. Belfanti Jr., D-107, chairman of the House Labor Relations Committee and a co-sponsor of the bill.
House Bill 1770 would make a temporary change in Pennsylvania law to allow the state to access $145 million in federal stimulus money to extend emergency unemployment benefits for an additional seven weeks. The legislation would give most unemployed workers in the state access to a total of 79 weeks of unemployment benefits.
The legislation would temporarily switch the mechanism Pennsylvania uses to trigger extended unemployment benefits from the "insured unemployment rate" - the percentage of Pennsylvania workers covered by the unemployment law who are out of work - to the more comprehensive "total unemployment rate" - the percentage of all Pennsylvania workers who are unemployed. The switch would allow the state to access federal stimulus money to pay for the extended benefits. Belfanti pointed out that the switch in trigger mechanism would be temporary; it would only be in place as long as federal funds are available to cover the cost of the extended benefits.
"This legislation would help tens of thousands of workers now, and potentially many more in the next several months, keep their benefits while they continue to look for work," he said.
Belfanti said 33 other states already use the total unemployment rate to trigger extended benefits.
The bill needs further approval before becoming law.
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