To prevent 2 million people from abruptly losing their economic lifeline at the end of the year, Senate Democrats have begun their push to preserve federal unemployment insurance programs.
Sen. Jack Reed (D-RI) is gathering signatures from his Democratic colleagues for a letter to Senate leadership urging an extension of jobless aid. Despite recent declines in the unemployment rate, the letter notes that more than 12 million Americans are still out of work, and that there are more than three unemployed people for every available job.
Last week, Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-AL) sent party leaders a letter demanding that the cost of continuing federal unemployment compensation for another year, which the letter put at $26 billion, be offset with cuts to other parts of the federal budget.
According to the U.S. Department of Labor, slightly more than 2 million Americans are currently collecting federal unemployment insurance, which lasts for as many as 47 weeks in states with high unemployment rates. Laid-off workers are eligible for federal benefits if they still haven't found work after using up state-funded benefits, which in most states last 26 weeks.
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