November 25, 2003
Smith Urges Senate Majority Leader to Extend Unemployment Benefits
Washington, DC - Today, Senator Gordon Smith (R-OR) wrote to Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist (R-TN) requesting him to bring a further extension of emergency unemployment benefits up for consideration in the Senate as soon as possible. Smith also urged the Majority Leader to work to remedy a problem with the "look back" trigger and allow states with high unemployment, like Oregon, to receive additional benefits.
The complete text of Smith's letter is available upon request.
"Although the economy is beginning to see some signs of improvement, too many Americans remain jobless," wrote Smith. "For many states, recovery has been slow and the job outlook shows no signs of rapidly improving in the near future. In my state, we have one of the highest unemployment rates in the country."
In the past month, Smith has introduced two bills to extend unemployment benefits. The Workers Assistance Extension Act (S. 1839) would extend Temporary Extended Unemployment Compensation (TEUC) program through June 30, 2004. The legislation will allow dislocated workers to receive 13 weeks of benefits in all states and an additional 13 weeks for workers who live in states with high unemployment rates.
Smith's other legislation (S. 1870) would fix the trigger mechanism in the TEUC that allows workers in states with high unemployment rates to receive another 13 weeks of compensation. Currently, state eligibility for these extended "high unemployment" benefits begins when the unemployment rate is at least 10 percent higher than it was two years earlier. Because Oregon's jobless rate has been among the highest in the nation for more than two years, Oregonians will not be eligible for these extended benefits after December 31, 2003. S. 1870 would change the trigger to continue Oregon's eligibility.
"Before this session ends, I urge you to extend the TEUC program and remedy the 10 percent requirement for high unemployment states," Smith wrote. "An adequate unemployment insurance program is urgently needed so that millions of Americans will have access to assistance to address their basic needs."
Yesterday, Senator Smith was joined by Senator Hillary Clinton (D-NY) on the Senate Floor as he tried to move forward his legislation (S. 1839) to continue TEUC program for an additional six months. The senators interrupted debate on the Medicare prescriptions drugs bill in an attempt to force action on the legislation. However, due to an objection from another senator, their effort was unsuccessful.
In October of 2001, Smith introduced the Temporary Emergency Unemployment Compensation Act of 2001, which was signed into law in February 2002. In addition, Smith introduced unemployment extension legislation in September 2002, January 2003, and April 2003.
###