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Klobuchar: Minnesota Will Receive Unemployment Benefits Extension Under Senate Bill

October 8, 2009

 Washington, D.C. - With unemployment benefits set to expire for many Minnesotans, U.S. Senator Amy Klobuchar announced today that after working closely with Senate leaders and the Senate Finance Committee, the Senate unemployment benefits bill, will include extensions for unemployed Minnesotans.  In recent weeks, Klobuchar has fought to include Minnesotans in an extension.  She, along with 17 of her colleagues, called on the Senate Finance Committee and Senate leaders to include all states in the extension of unemployment benefits.

A related bill passed by the House of Representatives would extend more unemployment benefits to only those states with unemployment levels of 8.5 percent or above.  Currently, Minnesota would not be covered at all because it has an unemployment rate of approximately 8 percent. 

“I fought to make sure that Minnesota was included in the extension of unemployment benefits,” said Klobuchar.  “Many Minnesotans are trying desperately to find a job and it is important that those who have exhausted their unemployment benefits continue to receive relief.”

“Senator Klobuchar has been working hard to make sure that Minnesotans who have lost their jobs will receive the help they need to regain their footing in this troubled economy. She has been a leader on this issue, fighting to make sure Minnesota gets the benefits it needs,” said Christine L. Owens, Executive Director of the National Employment Law Project.

The Senate bill, which was introduced today, would give all 50 states an additional 14 weeks for jobless workers who have exhausted their benefits. Additionally, in states with unemployment rates at 8.5% or above, workers who have exhausted their unemployment benefits would receive an additional 6 weeks. 

Full text of the letter Senator Klobuchar sent to the Senate Finance Committee and Senate leaders on September 30, 2009 is below.

September 30, 2009

The Honorable Harry Reid                The Honorable Mitch McConnell
Majority Leader                    Republican Leader
Capitol Building, S-221                Capitol Building, S-230
Washington, DC 20510                Washington, DC 20510

The Honorable Max Baucus                The Honorable Charles Grassley
Chairman                        Ranking Member
Committee on Finance                Committee on Finance
219 Dirksen Senate Office Building            219 Dirksen Senate Office Building
Washington, DC 20510                Washington, DC 20510

Majority Leader Reid, Republic Leader McConnell, Chairman Baucus, and Ranking Member Grassley,

Hundreds of thousands of workers will run out of unemployment benefits by the end of September.  On September 22nd, to address this pending crisis, the House of Representatives passed H.R. 3548, the Unemployment Compensation Extension Act of 2009, which will extend unemployment benefits by up to 13 weeks.

However, H.R. 3548 limits this extension of benefits to only those workers in states where the unemployment rate is a three?month average of 8.5 percent, or a 13?week insured unemployment rate above 6 percent.  These criteria exclude hundreds of thousands of jobless workers in 23 states: Alaska, Arkansas, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Iowa, Kansas, Louisiana, Maryland, Minnesota, Montana, Nebraska, New Hampshire, New Mexico, North Dakota, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Texas, Utah, Vermont, Virginia and Wyoming. 

The challenges faced by unemployed workers in these excluded states are equally severe and we strongly urge the Senate Finance Committee to craft legislation that extends unemployment benefits equitably, to all workers, regardless of their state. 

Sincerely,

Senator Jeanne Shaheen
Senator Amy Klobuchar
Senator Pat Leahy
Senator Daniel Akaka
Senator Daniel Inouye
Senator Chris Dodd
Senator Jeff Bingaman
Senator Al Franken
Senator Tom Udall
Senator Mark Udall
Senator Ted Kaufman
Senator Byron Dorgan
Senator Michael Bennet
Senator Mark Begich
Senator Joe Lieberman
Senator Barbara Mikulski
Senator Bernie Sanders
Senator Ben Cardin

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