House OKs, Obama signs aid for jobless

Lincoln quick to chastise Boozman for his no vote

President Barack Obama signs legislation to extend jobless benefits to the long-term unemployed Thursday at the White House.
President Barack Obama signs legislation to extend jobless benefits to the long-term unemployed Thursday at the White House.

— The House of Representatives approved extending jobless benefits to the longterm unemployed Thursday by a comfortable margin, but members of the Arkansas delegation split on the issue.

Later Thursday, President Barack Obama signed the legislation into law.

Democrats Mike Ross and Vic Snyder supported the $34 billion measure, while Democrat Marion Berry joined Republican John Boozman in voting against it.

Blanche Lincoln, who voted for the extension in the Senate, blasted Boozman, saying he had turned his back on the state’s unemployed.

“There are a lot of hardworking families who due to no fault of their own are in really dire circumstances. ... I think the unemployment benefit is there to tide them over. It is a temporary circumstance. It’s not forever,” she told the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette.

Boozman is challenging the incumbent Democrat for her Senate seat.

“How does Congressman Boozman explain today’s vote against Arkansans facing the toughest economy since the Great Depression?” she asked in a statement released by her campaign.

Boozman said he’s in favor of extending benefits, but not by adding to the deficit. He favored spending unused stimulus money or saving money through a malpractice overhaul - which he said would lower medical costs for everyone and save the government money, too - to pay for the unemployment benefits.

“We do need to pay for these things,” Boozman said. “We can’t continue to spend and spend and spend without any regard to how you do this. ... We’re going to wind up like Greece and some of these other countries” where massive debt has led to economic chaos, he said.

Boozman said he’d be glad to debate Lincoln on the issue “all day, every day.”

“The people of Arkansas are very much on my side in that regard,” he said.

The 272-152 vote had overwhelming Democratic support: 241 voted for it, 10 against. Only 31 Republicans voted for the bill, with 142 voting against it.

The bill extends unemployment benefits through Nov. 30 to 2.5 million Americans - including about 16,800 Arkansas residents - whose coverage had run out. Benefits will be applied retroactively.

Payments will be mailed out as soon as the federal Department of Labor gives the state guidance on how to proceed, said Kimberly Friedman, spokesman for the state Department of Workforce Services.

Before the benefits expired, the department had clients file claims for the benefits anyway so their information would be in the system.

“This way we can issue payment a lot quicker,” Friedman said. She said payments should be issued from three to five business days after the federal guidance is received.

In some states, like Nevada with the nation’s highest unemployment rate of more than 14 percent, the long-term unemployed could have to wait several weeks for payment.

For Arkansans who have been out of work for months or more than a year, Thursday’s House vote was welcome news.

Marsha Browning’s unemployment benefits ran out at the end of June. She had been receiving $159 a week after taxes. She hasn’t worked in a about a year after having to leave her job as a school bus driver in North Little Rock because of a back injury.

The state’s average weekly benefit is $282, according to the Workforce Services Department.

Browning, 54, who lives in Little Rock, said she has applied for every job that has come along, including with Wal-Mart, waitress positions and minimum-wage jobs.

“You hear these people say, ‘I can’t work for minimum wage.’ Well, minimum wage is better than zero wage,” she said.

With a 16-year-old daughter at home, Browning said she can’t afford to give up the job search even though the last year has been stressful.

“Getting depressed doesn’t do any good. You miss opportunities. I can’t afford that,” she said.

Berry said he sympathized with people who had been unemployed so long that they’d exhausted their benefits but he hadn’t heard from anyone in his eastern Arkansas district on the issue.

He said his concern about expanding federal deficits determined his vote.

“We’re broke as a snake. We’ve got to stop some place. The $34 billion just takes us to November and then we’re facing the same thing again,” Berry said.

Berry, like Boozman, said he supports paying for benefits through unused stimulus funds or spending cuts.

“You can go through this federal budget and find $34 billion in 15 seconds,” he said.

Ross cited a Congressional Budget Office study that found every dollar of unemployment benefits produces $1.90 in economic returns.

“These investments put money in the hands of Arkansans who need it the most, who then put this money back in to our local economies,” Ross said.

Snyder said the aid was necessary considering the high levels of unemployment. Nationally, the unemployment rate is 9.5 percent. In Arkansas, 7.5 percent of the work force is without a job.

“There are at least 5 unemployed jobs eekers for every one job opening in America,” said Snyder in a statement. “Until the economy picks up,we cannot punish American workers and children.”

Browning reacted to Thursday’s news with a renewed sense of hope. She had been told that she had only about $400 more in benefits if an extension was passed, but plans to go to the unemployment office to see if she’s eligible for more aid.

Friends have really helped, she said. One brought groceries every week. Others let her know about potential jobs.

“It could be worse,” she said. “There was a time in life when I was homeless, so I know. I put my faith in the Lord. Everything happens for a reason. Everything will work out.” Information for this article was contributed by Alex Daniels of the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette.

Front Section, Pages 1 on 07/23/2010

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