Unemployment Insurance Extension Filibuster Worsens Economic Pain

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, 2010if 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 is unemployment insurance critical for the long-term unemployed, but federal inaction on UI extension  threatens economic recovery.  Mark Zandi, chief economist at Moody's Economy.com and former adviser to Senator John McCain, finds that extending unemployment insurance (UI) 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.

Last week, Delaware became the second state in the country to pass legislation that would adjust US Census data to count incarcerated people as residents of their home addresses for redistricting purposes.  It is currently waiting for Gov. Jack Markell’s signature.

The Census currently counts incarcerated people as residents of their prison location, artificially inflating the local population.  As states use census tallies to redraw legislative districts, districts with a prison benefit from the resulting increased representation, while the home districts of incarcerated persons are short-changed.  Twelve percent of one state house district in Texas is comprised of prisoners, while fiftteen percent of one Montana state house district consists of prisoners.

Prison-based gerrymandering is increasingly becoming a problem — the 2010 Census is expected to find five times as many people in prison as it did just three decades ago.  Fortunately, states are moving to correct the problem.  Maryland enacted the first law (SB 400/HB 496) to count incarcerated persons at their home address in April, and similar legislation is pending in New York.

Rhode Island’s HB 7407, now Public Law No. 2010-203, creates the Green Economy Roundtable to advise and assist the Governor and General Assembly in advancing Rhode Island’s green energy economy by developing a statewide action plan.

The bill redefines the composition of Rhode Island’s Green Economy Roundtable in order to ensure a balanced representation of government efforts in advancing the green economy.  Roundtable members will ensure that green economy decisions originate from the community as well as from business perspectives so that prosperity is shared by all residents of Rhode Island.

Similar to parts of Progressive States Network’s Green Building model legislation, such a roundtable ensures that community-based leaders, including union organizers, work in conjunction with representatives from the business sector in a task force that will promote, create and retain sustainable green jobs.

Based on an innovative model from Washington state, states have the opportunity to help veterans improve their benefits and save millions of dollars for their own budgets.

Using a US Department of Health and Human Services national database called PARIS, Washington’s Department of Social and Health Services has launched a program that identifies veterans on Medicaid.  If those veterans are found eligible for health coverage, long-term care benefits or pensions through the US Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) or Department of Defense, they can be taken off the state’s Medicaid rolls.  Since 2003, Washington state has shaved $18 million from their Medicaid budget by qualifying over 5,600 veterans and their families for VA or Defense Department coverage.  The program in Washington is designed to ensure that until clients qualify for a VA monthly cash benefit that makes them financially ineligible for state public assistance, they maintain existing state benefits. 

The Public Assistance Reporting Information System (PARIS) was originally designed to weed out people who were cheating state benefit systems by receiving benefits from more than one state.  But in realizing how effective the database can be in not only providing veterans with more comprehensive health and related benefits and trimming state spending in the process, no less than 20 other states have expressed interest in following Washington's example.

For example, Montana implemented the system in 2007 and has saved almost $900,000 in Medicaid costs.  Since last November, Colorado has identified about 1,600 potentially eligible individuals or families that could save the state up to $8 million a year.  California began a 2009 pilot program of the system in three counties.  According to California’s Legislative Analyst’s Office, the state could save $25 million per year if only 10% of its veteran population switched from enrollment in Medicaid to health coverage through the VA.

The program  of course doesn't reduce medical costs overall, but by shifting spending from the states to the federal government, it both eases state budget deficits and ensures that veterans, who have earned the right to access the full range of VA benefits, are informed of their eligibility so they can exercise that right.

California lawmakers worked feverishly at the end of June to move forward significant health reform legislation, including implementing new Medicaid rules for the next five years, setting a framework for establishing health insurance exchanges, and moving the state towards a single-payer health care system.

The challenge of getting the bills through the Assembly Health Committee was daunting because it was deadline week in the state legislature, the final days for policy committees to act on bills.  But in the end, all three bills prevailed and now move on to the Assembly Appropriations Committee.  All three bills previously passed the Senate. 

The three major bills approved by the Assembly Health Committee include:

Medi-Cal Waiver:  As one of two vehicles for renewing and implementing a new Medicaid waiver, SB 208 sets rules for the state's Medi-Cal program for the next five years.  The new waiver is presented as a bridge between the existing Medi-Cal program and the full access expansion that will happen in 2014 as a result of federal health reform.

Health Insurance Exchange:  SB 900 would establish the state insurance exchange pursuant to provisions in the federal health reform law.  Passage of this bill in this session will allow the state the time necessary to plan how their exchange will operate beginning in 2014.  Ideally, the exchange will provide expanded access for health consumers by eliminating adverse selection, creating a seamless process for enrollment and subsidies and providing an array of standardized plans and products for informed decision making.  This bill also moves on to the Appropriations Committee.  Its Assembly companion bill, AB 1602, was also passed this week by the Senate Health Committee.

Single-Payer Health Reform:  SB 810 would create a single-payer health care system that would cover all California residents.  The legislation is a policy bill that would allow a single-payer system to be established. It does not address how the system would be financed.