Press Release - The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights
Senate Inaction on Unemployment Insurance a “Lump of Coal” for Jobless Workers this Holiday Season
Negotiations needed to restore unemployment lifeline
For Immediate Release
Contact: Scott Westbrook Simpson, 202.466.2061, simpson@civilrights.org
November 30, 2010
Nancy Zirkin, executive vice president of The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, issued the following statement after the Senate failed to extend unemployment insurance for millions of Americans:
“The Senate seems determined tonight to turn its back on millions of jobless workers and their families and deal a blow to our fragile economic recovery by failing to reauthorize unemployment insurance, which expires at midnight.
Blocking a vote on the Baucus bill is a tragic and historic mistake. Congress has never before cut back on federally-funded benefits when unemployment was over 7.2 percent, and it’s been near double digits for more than a year. The vote against the bill appears especially indifferent to Black and Hispanic workers, whose unemployment rate is far higher and whose communities have suffered the most since the start of the Great Recession.
The Baucus bill is a classic win-win. The fact is that UI payments go straight back into the economy to support local businesses, create jobs and reduce the demand for public services, costing taxpayers less in the long run. Continuing the current federal UI programs for 13 months would generate $10 billion in economic activity every month, saving up to 900,000 jobs.
Instead, the Senate is redefining the phrase ‘penny wise and pound foolish.’ Many of the same lawmakers insisting that the one-year, $54.6 billion cost of the bill be offset are somehow eager to extend tax the Bush tax cuts for wealthy Americans with no offsets, increasing our deficit by $700 billion over the next 10 years.
But this fight is a long way from over. With time running out on the 111th Congress, now is the time for serious negations that will insure that the Senate does not adjourn without reauthorizing unemployment insurance for another 13 months.
This holiday season, working Americans deserve more than a lump of coal from the Senate. They deserve a strong lifeline to help sustain them until the private sector begins hiring again.”
