Emergency Unemployment Assistance helps support 60,000 in Massachusetts

 

Washington (January 8, 2014) – Senator Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.) spoke on the Senate floor today in support of extending Unemployment Insurance assistance for millions of Americans. Yesterday, the Senate voted to advance legislation to extend the Unemployment Insurance Assistance program, and a vote is anticipated this week on the bill. Below is an excerpt of Senator Markey’s remarks. 

“Temperatures may have dropped to new lows, but we shouldn’t freeze unemployment benefits for millions of Americans. I commend the Republican Senators who voted to advance legislation that would extend long-term unemployment assistance to 1.3 million Americans, including 60,000 workers in Massachusetts who could face the harsh reality that they may not be able to make ends meet this month with the end of this aid. Unemployment assistance isn’t just a line in a budget; it is a lifeline for millions of people out of work through no fault of their own.

 

“One of those people, Vera Volk from Lynn, Massachusetts, was a 20-year employee in the biotechnology industry before she was laid off in May 2013 in part due to the across-the-board automatic budget cuts known as sequestration. Last month, Vera lost her unemployment benefits when the Emergency Unemployment Insurance program ended. Vera has suffered a double injustice – losing her job through sequestration and her unemployment benefits from political inaction.

 

“I strongly support the bipartisan Emergency Unemployment Compensation Extension Act from Senators Reed and Heller and call on my colleagues in both parties to pass this legislation and reinstate and continue federal support for the emergency unemployment insurance program until the end of March. Failing to pass this legislation will hurt our economy and could cost 310,000 jobs. The Department of Labor has found that for every dollar of unemployment benefits spent, two dollars of economic activity are generated.  As we work together in a bipartisan effort to make smart investments now that will create jobs, continue our country's economic recovery and lower unemployment, we should not leave millions of American families behind.”