From the Dispatch

Extended Unemployment Benefits Approved by Feds

Altaf Rahamatulla — Thu, 22 Jul 2010 15:10:43 +0000

Extended Unemployment Benefits Approved by Feds - But Debates Continue on Raiding Already Approved Recovery Funds

This week, the U.S. Senate finally broke a filibuster by conservatives to approve an extension of unemployment insurance (UI) for 2.5 million people who lost their benefits when the program expired last month. The House is expected to approve the bill today, which extends the program through November, offering the long-term unemployed up to 99 weeks of aid and making benefits retroactive to June 2 when the program expired.

However, UI is only one part of job creation. Congress is currently considering further aid for state programs such as schools and Medicaid. Many opponents of state fiscal relief continue to demand that the government rescind other recovery funds to pay for programs, effectively calling for the firing of one set of workers to promote employment and services for other groups. Furthermore, it is quite telling that right-wing representatives who are purportedly concerned with the deficit, took issue with how the government would pay for the UI extension, but desire to maintain the Bush tax cuts, which are major sources of the long-term deficit and as the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities indicates, "will continue to harm the budget outlook throughout the next decade."

Robbing Broadband to Pay for Schools: Just this month, for example, the House approved an Appropriations Committee amendment to the supplemental war bill that would have added funds to avoid massive teacher layoffs along with funding for expanded Pell Grants, the Gulf Oil Spill, and other programs, but paid for this aid through $11.7 billion in cuts in other programs. With inflated deficit hysteria poisoning the debate, the amendment cut funding for a special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children, some other education programs, and cut over $700 million from key broadband and technological investments allotted in the Recovery Act, including $602 million the Departments of Agriculture and Commerce for broadband grants, $112 million in funding for digital television, and $15 million for National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) construction. Several advocates are concerned that a loss of crucial funding for broadband will compromise economic development, growth, and access provisions to un-served and under-served areas of the country. On top of that, due to current state budget shortfalls, ARRA broadband investments are the only direct source of funding states have at their disposal to improve and expand high-speed Internet access.

Jobs Now, Plan for Deficit Reduction Later: With unemployment hovering at 10 percent, most economic experts see the focus on short-term deficits as misguided and dangerous, since, if anything, we need more immediate spending to create jobs, not less. As Lawrence Mishel, the president of the Economic Policy Institute, and David Walker, the president and CEO of the anti-deficit Peter G. Peterson Foundation, relate jointly in a recent article, the nation can effectively engage in planning for long-term deficit reduction even as we run short-term deficits to create jobs that promote systematic federal investments in public structures, education, and benefits for the long-term unemployed as a means to spur recovery and future fiscal stability:

A focus on jobs now is consistent with addressing our deficit problems ahead... We must accept higher deficits in the short-term in order to put people back to work. At the same time, we must take immediate steps to agree on a path and a process for reducing the structural deficits that lie ahead.

Cutting short-term recovery dollars now does little or nothing to deal with long-term structural deficits and not definitively moving on necessary job creation measures can prolong economic pain and likely make those long-term deficits worse. So as Mishel, Walker and a range of other experts emphasize, the short-term spending cuts suddenly being debated in Congress are a distraction from both immediate economic recovery and from any genuine debate on long-term deficit reduction.

Resources:
Committee on Appropriations - House Consideration of the 2010 Supplemental Appropriations Act: Amendment on Fully Offset Education
Education Week - Some State Officials Worried About Race to Top Cut
Lawrence Mishel and David Walker - Address Jobs Now and Deficits Later
Milwaukee-Wisconsin Journal Sentinel - Obey Pushing for $10 Billion to Save Teacher Jobs
Progressive States Network - Broadband and Recovery
Stimulating Broadband - Alert: House Appropriations Cuts $602 Million from Broadband Stimulus
United States Senate - Bayh Letter to Inouye

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Unemployment Insurance Extension Filibuster Worsens Economic Pain

Altaf Rahamatulla — Thu, 08 Jul 2010 17:13:40 +0000

The country is still reeling from the effects of the downturn. Though the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) has undoubtedly benefited the economy, there are still 15 million Americans out of work.

Unfortunately, due to right-wing obstructionism in the US Senate, Congress was unable to extend unemployment insurance (UI) resulting in 1.7 million Americans losing their benefits on July 3. The Department of Labor released state-by-state breakdowns of Americans who lost UI earlier this month.

Follow this link to view a chart of the Estimated Number of Claimants Losing Unemployment Benefits by July 3, 2010 if Congress Fails to Continue Federal UI Programs.

If Congressional inaction continues, a total of 3.2 million workers will lose their umemployment benefits by the end of July. Furthermore, as the Center for American Progress notes, "[t]he lapse in congressional reauthorization forces 23 states and the District of Columbia to stop distributing extended benefits at a time when additional unemployment insurance benefits are needed most."

Not only are unemployment benefits critical for the long-term unemployed, but federal inaction on UI threatens economic recovery. Mark Zandi, chief economist at Moody's Economy.com and former adviser to Senator John McCain, finds that extending unemployment benefits provides a significant fiscal bang for the buck in fueling economic recovery by maintaining consumer spending in hard-hit communities. In fact, every $1 in federal spending on extending UI generates $1.61 in market activity.

As Zandi states, "[t]he odds that the economy will slip back into the recession are still well below even. But if Congress is unable to provide this help, those odds will rise and become uncomfortably high." Congress needs to move swiftly and boldly on enacting further job creation to boost the ailing economy. If you are a state lawmaker, please sign onto a letter calling on the President and Congress to enact a comprehensive jobs plan, including fiscal relief to states and local governments to foster economic growth and create and maintain jobs.

Resources
Center for American Progress - Today's Unemployment Crisis by the Numbers
House Ways and Means Committee - Estimated Number of Claimants Losing Unemployment Benefits by July 3, 2010if Congress Fails to Continue Federal UI Programs
The Huffington Post - Congress Should Quit Its Deficit Dithering Unless It Wants Another Recession
Mark Zandi - The Impact of the Recovery Act on Economic Growth
Progressive States Network - Saving Jobs: More Federal Action Needed on State Fiscal Relief

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Easing the Financial Burden on the Unemployed: States and the Federal Government Taking Action

Nathan Newman — Thu, 22 Apr 2010 16:39:18 +0000

While the Great Recession has been hard on families across the country, both states and the federal government have stepped up in unprecedented ways to ease the financial burden on the unemployed through extended benefits and modernization of state programs. Compared to pre-recession rules that generally provided only 26 weeks of unemployment insurance, federal action extended support for up to 99 weeks in states hit hardest by the recession. See map below, courtesy of the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities Click image for a larger version online..

Both the Senate and House have passed separate bills that contain an unemployment insurance extension; however, the chambers have not agreed on a final version. Congress needs to move a bill to the President's desk quickly as part of a more general new round of state fiscal relief to support economic growth. If you are a state lawmaker, please sign onto this letter calling on the federal government to enact a comprehensive jobs plan.

Modernizing State UI Programs: State governments have also continued to move forward in modernizing their unemployment insurance systems, taking advantage of last year's Recovery Act which made $7 billion available to states to help groups of workers who traditionally fall through the cracks of the program, including low-wage workers, women, and part-time workers.

Last year, 28 states enacted reforms to qualify for incentive funding, with 14 new states adopting the so-called alternative base period and seven states providing benefits to workers in training programs. This year, Alaska and South Dakota increased the incentive funding for which they qualify through additional modernization of their UI programs, while Maryland, Utah and Nebraska all newly qualified for UI incentive funds through modernization legislation enacted this year. Including states that had enacted reforms prior to the Recovery Act, a total of 31 states have enacted reforms that qualify for full or partial incentive funding.

Of the 21 remaining states that have not claimed their full share of ARRA incentive funding, 12 have introduced reform legislation this year and seven states, including Alabama, Arizona, Florida, Michigan, Mississippi, Pennsylvania, Washington, and the District of Columbia, still have pending bills. See the National Employment Law Project’s (NELP's) state-by-state summary of 2010 state legislation implementing the unemployment modernization provisions in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.

For NELP's breakdown of the legislation enacted last year, see Federal Stimulus Funding Produces Unprecedented Waiver of State Unemployment Insurance Reforms and their model legislation. Also, see below for a map of reforms enacted in 2009. Click image for a larger version online.

Resources:
Center on Budget and Policy Priorities - Policy Basics: How Many Weeks of Unemployment Compensation Are Available?
National Employment Law Project - State-By-State Summary of 2010 State Legislation
National Employment Law Project - Federal Stimulus Funding Produces Unprecedented Waiver of State Unemployment Insurance Reforms
National Employment Law Project - UI Modernization Model Legislation

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Saving Jobs: More Federal Action Needed on State Fiscal Relief

Altaf Rahamatulla — Thu, 01 Apr 2010 17:56:44 +0000

Last month, President Barack Obama signed the $17.5 billion Hiring Incentives to Restore Employment (HIRE) Act into law to assist small businesses and spur job creation. This was definitely a start, but the gravity of the current crisis demands much bolder and quicker action. Congress needs to enact further state fiscal relief to support jobs and avoid the massive layoffs that threaten social and economic vitality in the states.

Federal action is still needed to provide support for state Medicaid programs by extending the increased medical assistance percentages (FMAP), boost funding for educational programs, invest in infrastructure projects and public transportation, support the long-term unemployed to sustain them until they reenter the workforce, and provide direct and comprehensive financial assistance to state and local governments to perform the vital services needed to maintain growth in local communities.

In the past few months, Congress has started to take action:

Jobs for Main Street Act (H.R. 2847): On December 16, 2009, the House passed this bill, which would redirect money from the Wall Street bailout to fund environmental and infrastructure projects, extend FMAP, support education jobs, and provide small business loans. The bill would additionally provide funding to public safety and law enforcement jobs, address public housing needs, and invest in clean and safe water projects.
American Workers, State, and Business Relief Act of 2010 (H.R.4213): On March 10, the Senate passed this piece of legislation to provide state fiscal relief through FMAP increases, provide support for the long-term unemployed though Unemployment Insurance and COBRA extensions through the end of December 2010, reverse a scheduled 21 percent payment cut for doctors who provide services through Medicare, and extend several tax breaks, such as the research and development tax credit. The bill also raises almost $40 billion in new revenue by reducing a biofuel tax break utilized by the paper industry and strengthening tax shelter rules.
The Local Jobs for America Act (H.R. 4812): Rep. George Miller (D-CA) introduced this bill last month to provide $75 billion to local communities to hire needed staff over two years, funding for 50,000 private-sector training jobs, $23 billion to support education and teaching positions, and $1.18 billion for law enforcement. Overall, the legislation would appropriate $100 billion to job creation efforts. Within a month of its introduction, the bill already has 105 co-sponsors.

Individuals and advocacy organizations should press their Congressional leaders on the need for action. If you are a state or local lawmaker, please sign onto this letter calling on the President and Congress to enact a comprehensive jobs plan, including relief to states and local governments to foster economic growth and create and maintain jobs.

Resources:
Campaign for America's Future - Major New Jobs Bill Gains 105 Co-Sponsoring
Center on Budget and Policy Priorities - Recession Continues to Batter State Budgets; State Responses Could Slow Recovery
Center on Budget and Policy Priorities - An Update on State Budget Cuts
Economic Policy Institute - Dire states--State and Local Budget Relief Needed
Economic Policy Institute - Jobs Crisis Fact Sheet
Progressive States Network - Take Action: Additional Federal Job Creation and State Fiscal Relief

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Job Creation and State Fiscal Relief Resolutions Moving in the States

Altaf Rahamatulla — Thu, 11 Feb 2010 17:12:03 +0000

In the State of the Union speech, President Barack Obama stated:

"The devastation remains. One in 10 Americans still cannot find work. Many businesses have shuttered. Home values have declined. Small towns and rural communities have been hit especially hard. And for those who'd already known poverty, life has become that much harder... That is why jobs must be our number-one focus in 2010, and that's why I'm calling for a new jobs bill."

With the fiscal crisis forcing states to layoff hundreds of thousands of teachers, nurses and police officers, the need for more federal job creation and state fiscal relief support is clear. And there is substantial momentum building around this issue in the states.

New Mexico Rep. Eleanor Chavez introduced HJM39, a joint memorial calling on the federal government to pass a jobs creation plan. The memorial passed the House of Representatives last Saturday and will now be considered by the state Senate.
Similar resolutions are likely to be introduced in Illinois, Nevada and Vermont. Members of the Tax Fairness Organizing Collaborative (TFOC), including New Yorkers for Fiscal Fairness (NYFF) and the Progressive Leadership Alliance of Nevada (PLAN), are working with lawmakers in their states to highlight the acute need for increased federal support.
Along with Maine Senate President Libby Mitchell, House Speaker Hannah Pingree held a press conference this past Tuesday to garner awareness of Maine's economic and fiscal situation and highlight the need for another round of federal aid.

If you are a lawmaker interested in introducing a resolution requesting the federal government to move a jobs bill, PSN can assist you in that effort. Please contact us at jobcreation@progressivestates.org for support. General resolution language can be found here.

Additionally, over one hundred legislators from thirty-one states have signed on to Progressive States Network's letter calling on the President and Congress to move swiftly on job creation and state fiscal relief. State lawmakers can sign onto the letter here, while citizens and advocates can use this online tool to contact their state legislators and ask them to add their signature.

The Need and Public Support for Action: As we discussed in January, the passage of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) in early 2009 was critical in preventing a full collapse of the national economy and helping states address huge budget gaps. The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) estimates that the ARRA created or maintained 600,000 to 1.6 million jobs as of September 2009 and found it decreased the unemployment rate by almost one percentage point. Unfortunately, millions of Americans are still out of work and states are struggling to find ways to deal with enormous deficits and plummeting revenue. Projected governors' budgets could lead to layoffs amounting to an additional 900,000 jobs lost in the economy.

There is extensive bipartisan support for federal funding for job creation and aid to states. Winthrop University conducted a poll in late 2009 and found that 71.6 percent of respondents favor funding for jobs (94.5 percent identify as Democrats, 53.4 percent Republican, 68.9 percent Independent) and 62.7 percent support "giving aid to states in serious financial trouble" (80.6 percent Democrat, 50.9 percent Republican, 63.6 percent Independent).

As the U.S. Senate moves on a jobs package within the next few weeks, timing is crucial. State lawmakers must send a strong message to Washington that the country needs jobs and states need relief.

Resources:
Center on Budget and Policy Priorities - Additional Federal Fiscal Relief Needed to Help States Address Recession's Impact
Center on Budget and Policy Priorities - Recession Continues to Batter State Budgets; State Responses Could Slow Recovery
Stateline.org - Economist Mark Zandi: On stimulus, jobs, state finances, inflation and the year ahead
Moody's Analytics - The Case for Another Round of Federal Aid to State & Local Govt
WhiteHouse.Gov - Remarks by the President of the United States in State of the Union Address
Winthrop University - Winthrop Poll Results - November 2009 Findings
Center on Budget and Policy Priorities - Governors’ New Budgets Indicate Loss of Many Jobs if Federal Aid Expires

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Unemployment Reforms Sweep Nation Due to Federal Recovery Incentives

Caroline Fan — Thu, 25 Jun 2009 15:55:35 +0000

In a time of rising costs, increased unemployment, and declining wages, American workers could easily feel like they’ve been left to fend for themselves. Fortunately, because of incentives and funding included in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, as a new National Employment Law Project report details, states across the country have enacted measures to make it easier for unemployed Americans to obtain unemployment insurance (UI) benefits (see also this past Dispatch for some key state models for reform). Progress this session includes:

Half of the states passed measures over the last four months to extend unemployment insurance to groups like low-wage workers, women, part-time workers, and the long-term unemployed usually left outside the system. This is on top of the eight states and District of Columbia that had already enacted some of those reforms. Under these expanded eligibility measures, an additional 150,000 additional workers a year will be eligible for UI benefits.
21 states changed their laws to extend unemployment insurance benefits by 13-20 weeks if their state’s unemployment rate reaches 6.5 percent. (The most recent monthly update from the Bureau of Labor Statistics says that 33 states are at 6.5 percent unemployment or above).
UI reform has been a bipartisan effort with nine Republican governors signing legislation, despite initial unwillingness by some high-profile Republican Governors to adopt the changes. The states which have opted to enact these changes will receive $3.2 billion of funding.
About a dozen states are still actively debating measures to enact the required reforms to qualify for ARRA funding, including Delaware, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Michigan, North Carolina, and Rhode Island, where bills have passed at least one chamber of the state legislature or required committees.

This historic expansion and reform of unemployment insurance serves as a model for how state and federal government can best collaborate, with initial state experiments creating model legislation, the federal government then providing financial support for other states to emulate those models, followed by state campaigns to help spread those best practices to other states.

Resources:
National Employment Law Project - Federal Stimulus Funding Produces Unprecedented Wave of State Unemployment Insurance Reforms
Progressive States Network - State Unemployment Insurance Systems Being Modernized in Anticipation of Federal Recovery Program Funds

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State Action for the Unemployed

PSN — Mon, 09 Mar 2009 16:45:45 +0000

State Action for the Unemployed

On Thursday, the official unemployment rate climbed to 8.1% nationwide as employers shed an additional 651,00 workers last month. Add in sharp rises in the number of involuntary part-time and long-time discouraged workers, and the unemployment rate rose to 14.8%.

While long-term job growth is the goal of the recovery package, states need to, and some are already stepping up to, address the immediate needs of the unemployed. There are a range of additional resources outlined in PSN's Implementing the Recovery Plan: A Resource Guide for State Legislators and Advocates, but this Dispatch emphasizes key programs states can take advantage of to help their unemployed workers.

- Modernizing Unemployment Insurance
- Health Care for the Unemployed
- Layoff Prevention and Retraining
- Expanding Safety Net Programs
- Conclusion

Modernizing Unemployment Insurance

The most obvious action states can take for the unemployed is to ensure that their unemployment insurance systems cover as many people who have lost their jobs as possible, tapping all available federal funding resources. Along with the additional funds automatically going to unemployed workers under the recovery plan, there are several steps states can take to modernize their programs, allowing them to qualify for additional federal funds. The National Employment Law Project (NELP) has just released a Concise Guide to Assistance for Jobless Workers, which helps states identify and implement modernization initiatives to qualify for additional funds:

States can qualify for some of the $7 billion in additional federal funds being made available nationally, as long as they have extended coverage to additional workers specified by the recovery bill.
Five states (ME, NJ, NM, NY and WA) already meet these standards and will receive their full portion of the $7 billion. Other states will receive some or all of their share depending on what provisions they adopt.
Fourteen other states have adopted what's called an "alternative base period" which entitles them to one-third of their portion of the federal incentive payments.
To qualify for their full portion of unemployment insurance (UI) incentive funds, states must adopt the alternative base period plus two of the four following modernizations: (1) eligibility for part time workers; (2) covering individuals forced to leave work for compelling family reasons; (3) providing 26 weeks of additional UI benefits for individuals in approved training programs; and (4) paying dependents' allowances of $15 a week for each dependent.

Helping the Long-Term Unemployed: States have a new option to help workers who have exhausted Emergency Unemployment Compensation (EUC). States that adopt what's known as a Total Unemployment Rate (TUR) trigger at a rate of 6.0 percent can provide their workers with an additional 13 weeks of Extended Benefits (EB), which are now 100% federally financed. And for states where unemployment exceeds 8 percent, workers will get 7 additional weeks of EB, or a total of 20 additional weeks of benefits.

More Resources

Health Care for the Unemployed

For the unemployed, often the first crisis they face is losing the health care coverage they had as employees. With funding help from the federal government, states can act to help preserve health care for the unemployed.

Subsidies to Maintain Former Health Care Benefits: COBRA is the federal law that allows laid-off workers to maintain their employer-based health coverage. However, workers must pay the entire premium, which can be prohibitive, particularly in this economy. To shore-up COBRA as a real option for workers and their families, the federal stimulus provides $25 billion in subsidies to help the unemployed afford the COBRA premiums.

The federal government will pay 65% of COBRA premiums for 9 months after a job is involuntarily terminated for the period from September 1, 2008, to December 31, 2009. Additionally, to be eligible for the subsidy, individuals must earn less than $145,000 and families must earn less $290,000. However, COBRA is only automatically available to workers who were employed in a firm with 20 or more employees. To make the program available to employees of smaller firms, states must enact their own mini-COBRA, or "continuation of coverage", laws applying to firms with fewer than 20 employees and offering the coverage for a period of at least 9 months. A new Families USA report provides state-by-state recommendations for immediate action that legislators should take to ensure that unemployed workers in their state are eligible for the full COBRA subsidy.

Additionally, RWJF's State Coverage Initiatives program offers a terrific rundown of what states can do to ensure laid-off workers access to the COBRA subsidies, including supplementing the federal subsidy for low-income workers to decrease the amount they must pay.

Medicaid: With rising long-term unemployment, Medicaid is an ever-important safety net for workers and their families who lose their jobs and their health care benefits. As Families USA explains in a great FAQ, to be eligible for the $87 billion in Medicaid recovery funds, states must at least maintain income eligibility levels that were in place as of July 1, 2008 and cannot institute additional barriers to enrolling, nor may they withdraw Medicaid benfits for currently eligible populations. States have until July 1 of this year to roll back any changes that would make them non-compliant with these provisions. The new FMAP calculation includes an across-the-board 6.2% increase and a "hold-harmless" clause delaying or canceling previously scheduled decreases in a state's federal match. Finally, states with higher unemployment rates will receive additional FMAP increases.

SCHIP: In addition to Medicaid, the State Children's Health Insurance Program (SCHIP) is emerging as an ever-vital program to ensure that at least the children in unemployed families have reliable and comprehensive health care coverage. Separate from the stimulus package, the recent expansion of the state children's health insurance programs increased federal eligibility for children to 300% of the poverty level. The new law also removes the five year waiting period that legal immigrant children and pregnant women faced in receiving access to coverage and increases funding for state outreach efforts to enroll more children. The twenty-five states including DC that already provide some form of coverage for immigrant children or pregnant women will now receive increased federal funding through higher FMAP rates for existing services if they opt to do so by notifying the Centers for Medicaid & Medicare services of a change in their plans. Others will have to adopt administrative changes or legislation to expand coverage for legal immigrant children and pregnant mothers. However, states can provisionally adopt Immigrant Childrens' Health Improvement Act (ICHIA) as of April 1 and then seek legislation, if necessary, later in the legislative session.

More Resources

Layoff Prevention and Retraining

In Averting Layoffs and Revitalizing the Manufacturing Economy, we highlighted a range of best practices through which states can both work to avert impending layoffs and use rapid-response to help employees get new jobs or enter retraining programs as quickly as possible. There are a number of details and linked resources worth reviewing in the longer piece, but here are a few key approaches worth emphasizing:

Rapid-Response: In his Rapid Response Training Overview, Lynn Minick of NELP outlines how states can adopt a rapid response policy to identify the causes of job losses, rapidly intervene to help laid off employees with services, and explore ways to preserve the jobs threatened. Most rapid response programs are established under the umbrella of the federal Workforce Investment Act and involve early intervention, on-site contact with employees before layoffs, accessing training programs like Trade Adjustment Aid, and working with communities to tailor programs.
Using Peer Networks: John Kreuecher from Michigan's Human Resource Development Institute highlights how Peer Networks train groups of workers during layoffs to collect information from fellow workers, help connect them with community services, help them with job referrals and work with community leaders.
Early Warning to Prevent Layoffs: Tom Croft of the Steel Valley Authority (SVA) outlines in Early Warning and Layoff Aversion that states need to work with networks of companies in similar industries to share business information and help them act cooperatively to rejuvenate their industries to avoid layoffs. States can provide marketing help, energy conservation support to reduce costs, and work on buyouts to help sustain firms facing financial troubles.
Industry Partnerships: Stephen Herzenberg from the Keystone Research Center laid out an Industry Partnership Strategy drawing from Pennsylvania's experience building longer-term strategic cooperation among regional firms to coordinate training, education, and the sharing of high-performance organizational changes among firms.

Tapping Recovery Funds: States looking to implement some of these programs may be able to tap the $3.95 billion provided for the Workforce Investment Act (WIA) to fund job training and employment services. $2.95 billion of those funds will be distributed to states using standard WIA formulas and $750 million for a new competitive grant program for worker training and placement in high growth and emerging industries. States should also see where they can tap the expanded support for the Trade Adjustment Assistance for Communities program under the recovery program.

More Resources

Expanding Safety Net Programs

For the neediest Americans, the stimulus package increases funding for a number of safety net programs for the unemployed, especially for Americans who have fallen off the rolls.

TANF: ARRA provides $5 billion of new funding to states that experience an increase in welfare caseloads, and creates a new TANF Emergency Contingency Fund that covers 80 percent of the cost of increased assistance payments in states with caseload increases, on top of the stable block grants that states currently receive. Additionally, it provides 80 percent of additional spending on short”term non”recurring benefits and subsidized employment, so for every one dollar that a state spends, it receives a 4 dollar match from the federal government. The Act also ensures that states don't feel the pressure to cut off residents in need during difficult budget times by removing the caseload reduction credit, extends the TANF Supplemental Grants for FY 2010, and allows states to use unspent TANF funds from previous years for any benefit or service allowable under TANF.

Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (Food Stamps): The recovery act includes $20 billion for SNAP, formerly known as the food stamp program, with $295 million for SNAP administrative costs, most of which goes to the states. The state allocation formula will be based on states' shares of SNAP households in the last 12 months (75 percent) and of SNAP increases in last 12 months (25 percent). States are required to track the administrative expenses separately from benefits.

For example, minimum benefit amounts for one- and two-person households increase to $19 for Alaska Urban, $24 for Alaska Rural I, $30 for Alaska Rural II, and $25 for Hawaii. The USDA will notify states of each individual state's share of the federal monies at www.fns.usda.gov and these adjustments will become effective April 1, 2009.

States must adopt certain provisions by April 1, 2009, and are authorized to make mass changes including:

Maximum benefit increase: Maximum monthly benefit amounts increase by 13.6%, and one and two-person households will receive a $2 increase in monthly SNAP allotments, which will remain at the higher level.
Another provision of SNAP is that it suspends time limits on eligibility for jobless adults without dependents through FY 2010 unless a state chooses to offer workfare slots. There is no need for states to track able-bodied workers without dependents or ask for waivers or exemptions until October 1, 2010.

Eliminate Assets Tests on Government Benefit Programs: Currently, many families are struggling, and could benefit by states lifting asset tests and instead simply checking to see if families meet SNAP, TANF or Medicaid income requirements. This would allow a greater number of needy families to benefit from increased federal funding. States are free to set their own asset limits under TANF, Medicaid and SCHIP programs, and, while states cannot completely eliminate the asset limit on food stamps, under the 2002 Farm Bill, they can create "categorical eligibility" for food stamps in some areas for anyone qualifying for a program like TANF for which the state has eliminated asset limits. States that have eliminated assets-based TANF grants like Virginia and Ohio have not experienced significant upticks in abuse of the system.

More Resources

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Conclusion

Every month, hundreds of thousands of Americans are being added to the rolls of the unemployed. The recovery plan has put tools in the hands of the states to address these immediate needs, while reforming unemployment, health care, training and safety net programs.

Resources

Modernizing Unemployment Insurance

NELP - Concise Guide to Assistance for Jobless Workers
NELP - Needed Reforms for Full Incentive Funding, by State - Table with reforms needed in each state to qualify for UIMA funding.
NELP - Model State Provisions to Implement the UIMA

Health Care for the Unemployed

Academy Health/ RWJF's State Coverage Initiatives - How States Can Build on New Federal Legislation that Subsidizes COBRA Coverage for Laid-off Workers

Families USA - Protecting Unemployed Workers' Health Coverage: What States Can Do

Families USA - Frequently Asked Questions about the Temporary Extra Medicaid Funding in the Economic Recovery Package

CBPP - In Depth: the Federal Medical Assistance Percentage Provision

National Immigration Law Center - Immigrant Childrens' Health Improvement Act (ICHIA)

Families USA - Children's Health - CHIP Reauthorization

Layoff Prevention and Retraining

Progressive States Network - Averting Layoffs and Revitalizing the Manufacturing Economy: Lessons from the Great Lakes States
NELP - NELP’s 2008 Great Lakes Economic Revitalization Summit
Lynn Minick of the National Employment Law Project - Rapid Response Training Overview
John Kreucher of Michigan's Human Resource Development Institute - Peer Networks
Tom Croft of the Steel Valley Authority (SVA) - Early Warning and Layoff Aversion
Steve Herzenberg of the Keystone Research Center - Pennsylvania's Industry Partnership Strategy
CBPP - Training and Employment Services Provisions
Workforce Alliance - ARRA Summary of Workforce and Education provisions
Workforce Alliance - Summary of ARRA Section on Trade Adjustment Assistance for Communities

Expanding Safety Net Programs

Corporation for Enterprise Development (CFED) - What States Should Do: Help Struggling Families and Change the Trajectory of Our Economy
CFED - Ranking States on Asset Limits for Public Benefit Programs and Asset Limits for Public Benefits Resource Guide
Sargent Shriver National Center on Poverty Law - Reforming State Rules on Asset Limits: How to Remove Barriers to Saving and Asset Accumulation in Public Benefit Programs
Food Research and Action Center -- Economic Recovery Act provisions and highlights
Food and Nutrition Service, USDA - Memo to states on SNAP implementation
Center on Budget and Policy Priorities -- State by State impact of stimulus on Food Stamp funding
Progressive States Network - Helping Poor and Working Families Build Financial Assets

State Unemployment Insurance Systems Being Modernized in Anticipation of Federal Recovery Program Funds

Caroline Fan — Thu, 05 Feb 2009 16:40:49 +0000

When Governor O'Malley (D-MD) announced his legislative agenda for the session, one centerpiece was an expansion of unemployment insurance to part-time workers currently excluded. Other states, including California, Hawaii, Oregon, Colorado, Minnesota, Iowa, Utah, and Texas are passing that and other reforms to modernize antiquated systems that leave many unemployed without help. In fact, due to state rules, only 17 percent of low-wage unemployed workers and 37 percent of higher-wage unemployed workers are receiving benefits.

States are acting partly in anticipation of new federal help that, as we outlined in a December Dispatch, advocates have been pushing for and the House included in their original version of the federal recovery package. That version included $7 billion for the Unemployment Insurance Moderization Act ( S. 1871/H.R. 3920, Title IV) which would provide incentive payments to states that have or will implement initiatives to help low-wage, women, and part-time workers get through these tough times. Over the past decade, more than half the states have already adopted the reforms that qualify for incentive funding under the UIMA.

Models for Reform: Legislative language on the provisions falls into several categories:

Washington has strong language on creating an alternative base period during which a worker's most recent income can count toward calculation of UI benefits.The state also passed extended unemployment benefits for workers who are still in training.
Georgia has already passed language that allow part-time workers to gain access to the UI benefits that they have paid into. New Mexico also provides benefits for part-time workers and proposed New Mexico HB 20 would provide a $15 additional allowance per week per dependents.
California allows for spouses who have to move to a different state to follow their spouse's change of job to apply for UI benefits.

The National Employment Law Project has outlined models for unemployment insurance expansion here with a state by state guide as to what each state needs to do to achieve UIMA reforms to qualify for federal funding.

Reforms Can Encourage Reemployment: Despite concerns that expanding eligibility for unemployed residents will bear too great a financial burden, lessons can be drawn from North Carolina, which extended unemployment insurance benefits three years ago to part-time workers and those with sporadic or only recent work history. Employment Security Commission president Tom Whitaker found that the change resulted in fewer repeat claims and no significant increase in total benefits: "Instead, we've moved more people from the unemployment line to the re-employment line and decreased our workload."

Health benefits for the unemployed Another key reform included in the current House version of the recovery package is a temporary expansion of Medicaid to cover unemployed individuals up to 200% of the poverty line, while providing a 65% subsidy for coverage under former employer health plans under the COBRA program for those making more. Unfortunately, the current Senate bill strips most of those provision out, leaving the unemployed vulnerable to medical catastrophe.

Amidst the federal stimulus debate around health care for unemployed workers, Families USA has released an important report detailing what states can do to protect unemployed workers' coverage. The report provides state-by-state recommendations for immediate action by legislators - these include enacting "mini-COBRA" laws and allowing individuals who have lost employer coverage to purchase coverage in the indvidual market from their previous insurers without limitations for pre-existing conditions.

Need for Congress to Act: With several states are facing insolvent UI benefit funds as unemployed residents flood the rolls and facing the loss of health care from their previous employers, it is even more important that Congress pass the stimulus package to ensure that state unemployment funds can stay solvent and states can reform. Notably, unemployment benefits go a long way to stimulate the economy , providing $2.15 in economic growth for every dollar in benefits spent by workers and their families on housing, groceries and other basic necessities.

Resources:

Progressive States, Unemployment Insurance Modernization Should be Part of Recovery Plan
Unemployment Insurance Moderization Act, S. 1871/H.R. 3920, Title IV
Families USA - Protecting Unemployed Workers' Health Coverage: What States Can Do
Peter S. Hart/NELP Poll of Unemployed Persons
Implementing the Model Provisions of the Unemployment Insurance Modernization Act in the States - National Employment Law Project (NELP)
This guide provides a summary of the key reforms that qualify for incentive funding under the UIMA and model state legislation to help policy makers in the states as they introduce bills in preparation for their legislative sessions.
GAO Report — Receipt of Benefits has declined, with disparities for low-wage and part-time workers
The Unemployment Insurance Modernization Act: Filling the Gaps in the Unemployment Safety NetWhile Stimulating the Economy - National Employment Law Project (NELP)
This handy fact sheet provides information on UIMA and key state-by-state data.
Center for Budget & Policy Priorities, Addressing Longstanding Gaps in Unemployment Insurance Coverage
NELP, Close the Deal on Health Care for the Unemployed

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Unemployment Insurance Modernization Should be Part of Recovery Plan

Nathan Newman — Mon, 15 Dec 2008 19:23:51 +0000

As the federal government considers an economic recovery plan that will most directly address the needs of those suffering and revive the economy, expanding funding for and modernizing state-based unemployment compensation systems should be a central part of any recovery plan.

Conference Call this Friday: Progressive States Network will be joining with the National Employment Law Project, Half in Ten and MomsRising to sponsor a call this Friday December 19 at 12pm EST to brief state legislators and state advocates on proposed federal legislation to fund modernization of state unemployment compensation systems and what state leaders can do to educate federal officials on the critical need to pass the legislation as part of the federal recovery plan.

Reforms and expanded funding of state unemployment insurance should be the nation's first line of defense against recessions. Backed by Senator Kennedy, Congressman Rangel and other Congressional leaders, the Unemployment Insurance Modernization Act (UIMA) should be a core component of the national recovery agenda. The measure would provide $7 billion in incentive funds to states that provide specific benefits to low-wage, women and part-time workers, helping over 500,000 workers collect benefits every year. In addition, the bill would provide all states collectively with $500 million in funds to help them process record numbers of unemployment claims and get laid-off workers the help they need to get back on their feet.

Join national experts and state officials for a call on Friday, December 19th at noon, to learn all about the innovative state reforms featured in the UIMA and the critical role that state officials and state advocates can play in this timely federal debate. As state legislative sessions get going in January, states should be introducing bills right away featuring the model reforms that qualify for funding under the UIMA. In addition to discussing these reforms, the panel of experts will discuss other proven unemployment insurance policies that respond to the critical needs of workers struggling pay their bills and find new work in the midst of a severe recession.

You can RSVP for the call at http://www.progressivestates.org/conferencecallrsvp

Tough Times for the Unemployed: With unemployment mounting and over 500,000 jobs lost in November alone, the need for both expanded funding and modernizing outdated unemployment insurance systems is becoming ever more critical.

As a poll of 400 unemployed people, conducted by Peter Hart and sponsored by the National Employment Law Project (NELP), found in Novermber:

Most unemployed (62%) are not confident of finding a new job in the next four months;
The unemployed are not being choosy; in fact, a large majority are willing to settle for jobs in a different field (83%) at less pay (63%) and without health insurance (62%);
Health insurance is a special concern, since 55% of the unemployed have no health insurance; 23% did not have it before they became unemployed and another 32% have lost health insurance since becoming unemployed.

And because unemployment is so widespread, the recession is hitting families hard:

Many unemployed (34%) have immediate families members who have been laid off, had their hours reduced or experienced a pay cut due to the recession.
47% have at least one minor child living with them who they support
63% were responsible for contributing at least half of their family's income before they became unemployed

Without unemployment benefits, the families receiving unemployment insurance would be hurting even more: 77% saw UI benefits as "very important" for meeting basic needs, from food to rent to other expenses.

Need for UI Modernization: Unfortunately, most of the unemployed, including low-wage, part-time and other workers, don't qualify for unemployment benefits because of outmoded rules largely designed for a 1930s workforce. In fact, only 37% of the unemployed ultimately qualify for benefits because of state rule exclusions.

Recognizing that states are not financially in a position to modernize benefits on their own, the federal Unemployment Insurance Modernization Act (UIMA) has been introduced as S. 1871/H.R. 3920, Title IV to provide $7 billion in financial incentives for states to close these gaps. The National Employment Law Project (NELP) has a fact sheet outlining key elements of reforms that should be included in any recovery plan approved by Congress once the new administration is inaugurated. Changes encouraged under the legislation would include:

Using an “alternative base period” counting a worker’s recent earnings to qualify for benefits. Over 40% of workers who fail to qualify for benefits because of insufficient earnings (whose earnings average just $9.00/hour) end up collecting benefits with the help of the alternative base period.
Covering part-time workers who are denied state benefits because they are required to seek full-time work
Providing benefits to those leaving work for compelling family reasons, including domestic violence;
Increased benefits for workers with dependent family members who qualify for state benefits but whose benefits should be increased to help care for their dependents;
Permanently laid off workers who require extra unemployment benefits to participate in training;
Long-term unemployed who fail to collect a full 26 weeks of state benefits in many states.

One third of UIMA incentive funding will go to states providing for the alternative base period and two-thirds of the UIMA incentive funding will go to states providing benefits to two out of the five remaining categories.

The UIMA has already passed the House of Representatives and it has bi-partisan Senate support, where President-elect Obama was an original sponsor of the Senate bill.

Broad range of individuals and groups support UI Modernization as part of recovery plan: From incoming executive branch officials to grassroots groups, the consensus on the need to include UI modernization in a federal recovery plan is clear:

Obama for America: “Expanding UI is one of the most effective ways to combat economic turmoil”¦Obama also believes that the extension of UI benefits should be coupled with an expansion of UI eligibility to more workers, including many part”time and non”traditional workers who are currently left out of the program.” Barack Obama’s Plan to Stimulate the Economy, 2008
Incoming Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Director Peter Orszag noted that expanding access to unemployment insurance “would be relatively cost”effective” as stimulus because it would “tend to boost income among families very likely to spend most of the additional money rapidly.”
Dr. Jared Bernstein, Chief Economic Advisor to Vice President-Elect Joe Biden: “Ways to expand eligibility, such as alternative base periods, are in the language of the UI Modernization Act”¦[S]ome of these eligibility expansions could be implemented under the rubric of stimulus.”
National Women's Law Center: "Congress should take immediate steps to”¦expand unemployment insurance coverage to reach more jobless workers, especially women, who are denied benefits because of outdated eligibility rules that disqualify many low”wage and part”time workers and workers who have left their jobs for compelling family reasons, in addition to extending unemployment insurance benefits for additional weeks.”
AFL”CIO, AFSCME, Coalition on Human Needs, Economic Policy Institute, Ironworkers, International Association of Machinists, Teamsters, UAW, Leadership Conference on Civil Rights, National Employment Law Project, National Women’s Law Center, SEIU, Plumbers, UNITE HERE: “To help states respond effectively to the recession and provide benefits to 300,000 low”wage workers who fail to qualify for the UI program in more than half the states”¦ stimulus legislation should incorporate the incentive funding program of the Unemployment Insurance Modernization Act.”

State leaders and organizations can help encourage passage of the legislation by talking with their own U.S. Senators and Congressional representatives, making clear that both increased funding and modernization are critical for supporting the unemployed workers who most need support during the present economic crisis.

Resources

Unemployment Insurance Moderization Act, S. 1871/H.R. 3920, Title IV
NELP, The Unemployment Insurance Modernization Act: Filling the Gaps in the Unemployment Safety Net While Stimulating the Economy
NELP, Unemployed In America: Key findings from a survey among 400 unemployed adults
Half in Ten, The Unemployment Insurance Modernization Act Should be Part of Any Economic Recovery Package
Center for Budget & Policy Priorities, Addressing Longstanding Gaps in Unemployment Insurance Coverage NELP, Half in Ten, Center for American Progress - Helping the Jobless Helps Us All"

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Rising Unemployment Highlights Need for Federal Expansion of Unemployment Insurance Funds

Nathan Newman — Fri, 24 Oct 2008 16:00:42 +0000

While the financial crisis has received more of the headlines, there has been a growing unemployment crisis over the last year. With unemployment at a five-year high, nearly 10 million Americans were officially unemployed last month, with nearly 500,000 workers applying for benefits each week. And the problem doesn't stop there, with long-term joblessness rising:

2 million workers were unemployed for longer than six months as of September.
Even with the federal government adding an additional 13 weeks of federally funded jobless benefits on top of the 26 weeks provided by the states, 800,000 workers have exhausted even those additional 13 weeks of benefits.
This problem is reaching crisis proportions in a number of states where joblessness is concentrated.

The National Employment Law Project, Center for American Progress Action Fund, and Half in Ten have prepared fact sheets highlighting the particular problems facing states with a surge in unemployment, including:

The House of Representatives has already passed legislation to fund additional benefits for all states, with extra relief for those especially hard-hit. The Senate should follow suit when Congress reconvenes after the election.

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From the Dispatch

Extended Unemployment Benefits Approved by Feds

Extended Unemployment Benefits Approved by Feds - But Debates Continue on Raiding Already Approved Recovery Funds

Unemployment Insurance Extension Filibuster Worsens Economic Pain

Easing the Financial Burden on the Unemployed: States and the Federal Government Taking Action

Saving Jobs: More Federal Action Needed on State Fiscal Relief

Job Creation and State Fiscal Relief Resolutions Moving in the States

Unemployment Reforms Sweep Nation Due to Federal Recovery Incentives

State Action for the Unemployed

State Action for the Unemployed

Table of Contents

Modernizing Unemployment Insurance

Health Care for the Unemployed

Layoff Prevention and Retraining

Expanding Safety Net Programs

Conclusion

Resources

Modernizing Unemployment Insurance

Health Care for the Unemployed

Layoff Prevention and Retraining

Expanding Safety Net Programs

State Unemployment Insurance Systems Being Modernized in Anticipation of Federal Recovery Program Funds

Resources:

Unemployment Insurance Modernization Should be Part of Recovery Plan

Resources

Rising Unemployment Highlights Need for Federal Expansion of Unemployment Insurance Funds