Beshear asks for extension of unemployment benefits
FRANKFORT — Gov. Steve Beshear is asking Kentucky’s congressional delegation to support another extension of unemployment benefits.
Gov. Steve Beshear
Nearly 123,000 Kentuckians have had to ask for additional, emergency benefits after the traditional unemployment benefits expired over the past year, according to state figures. About 800 to 1,200 people in Kentucky exhaust their emergency benefits each week, Beshear said in a written release.
House Resolution 3404 would extend unemployment benefits another 13 weeks. Congress is expected to debate the measure in coming days. Congress has already extended benefits three times over the past year. In Kentucky, people are eligible for 26 weeks of regular unemployment benefits and can access 33 weeks of extended benefits and an additional 20 weeks after they exhaust the 33 weeks if they qualify.
“The loss of these benefits will be devastating to many families and will only sink Kentucky further behind as we work to position it to take advantage of an economic recovery,” wrote Beshear in his letter to the federal delegation.
Kentucky exhausted its unemployment insurance trust fund — funded through taxes paid by employers — in January and is currently borrowing money from the federal government to pay for those benefits. Last month, Education and Workforce Development Secretary Helen Mountjoy told a state legislative committee that since January, the state had borrowed $338 million from the federal government to pay those claims.
A task force is supposed to make recommendations before the session begins in January on how the state will repay the federal government. The extension of unemployment benefits is federally funded and part of the federal stimulus package.
– Beth Musgrave
Filed Under: Federal Government • State Government • Steve Beshear
About the Author: 
Unemployment insurance does not need to be provided by the state or federal government. If it did not exist, people would either save an emergency fund up in case they lose their job or a private insurer would offer it just like disability insurance. Instead we have an bankrupt system that’s completely inefficient and a bureaucratic nightmare.
Matt, you do realize that unemployment insurance is funded by employer contributions and the governments just manage the funds. It is up to the governments to make sure the contribution rates are accurate to have sufficient fundings. What we are seeing now are extended unemployment rates that have not been seen in nearly 30 years. While some do have a six month emergency fund, we are now seeing people who are entering their 18th month of unemployment so those funds are already expended as well.
You are a retard. If there was no unemployment, the economy would crash and no one would have a job. You must be one of these rich pricks that decides who gets to keep their job or not based on whether or not they kissed your butt in the last week!! People who are out of a job right now have worked their whole life to have it jerked out from under them because the rich pricks on the top didnt want to hurt the bottom line!!
The problem I see is that there is no sense of urgency for anyone to go out and actually go get a job. The economy is not so bad that in 6 months you can not find work. It may not be what you want to do, but work is out there. Extending unemployment causes the unemployment rates that businesses pay out to go up. This in turn reduces the number of new jobs a company is willing to create. This is a joke, and a political ploy to gain voters instead of actually fixing the problem.
The main problem is people who are unemployed aren’t willing to settle for just a job. They have to get one that pays what they were making to support their lifestyle. I would take whatever I could get and work up from there. If I have to flip burgers then I would, anything to at least support my family any way I could.
You’re correct Hillary. My neighbor lost his $75,000/yr job in the mfg industry but he is satisfied making his $415/wk on unemployment. I have people in my neighborhood who have been out of work since last Fall. They have applied at Wal-Mart, fast food places, etc. only to be turned down as overqualified.
[...] money please: Gov. Steve Beshear has again asked Kentucky’s congressional delegation to extend unemployment benefits to those out of work in the commonwealth. Kentucky exhausted its unemployment insurance trust fund [...]
Cheesehead – I commend the work ethic and moral standard, but sometimes things aren’t quite as cut and dried as that. If you lose a job that paid you $40,000/year and are hired part-time flipping burgers, it’s necessary to file for the difference through unemployment insurance – and then it’s hard to justify (for some folks) getting up and going to work if they have to deduct their pay from the maximum unemployment benefit they are being paid. It’s a flawed system, no doubt – but just because a person chooses to wait until they are paid close to or more than the unemployment benefit before they return to work doesn’t make them less willing to work – it just makes them logical. FYI – haven’t been laid off and haven’t had to make the decision, but I empathize with anyone who has had to face the choices.
Many of the people unemployed this time have never been unemployed in their lives. They bought houses, for example, believing that their income would remain the same or rise. Meanwhile, their companies paid into the system to insure that if they did lose their jobs, they would be covered. Many now are on the verge of foreclosure and still can’t find jobs that would pay the mortgage. Believe me, anyone would rather work than lose the houses they have worked years to buy. Unemployment insurance is a blessing but it doesn’t match what you made before. If you haven’t been there you can’t possibly understand.
Why not imagine the choices a competitive market would open up? If you are a single income family and have a large mortgage, why would you not want the option to buy 12 months of benefits at 100% your old salary instead of what the state offers? If are a dual income family and have an emergency fund, maybe you don’t need benefits at all. Why not really look at the state system and its flaws and consider the possibilities.
I agree with Shawn, unemployment benefits are there for times like these although people like Matt may never need it, unemployment is NOT welfare some of these people have worked there whole lives and now suddenly they are without a job and you know what MATT savings runs out quick when there is nothing there to supplement it!!!
Savings runs out quick too if a spouse dies, but the government doesn’t provide life insurance. Why is unemployment insurance different? I would gladly accept unemployment insurance benefits if I lost my job because I’m invested in the system too. I just think there could be a better system.
Matt, there are few companies that write private unemployment insurance policies. Those that do, max monthly benefits to $1,500 to $2,000. If a wage earner has been used to bringing home $4,000/mth and you are bringing home $1,500/mth though unemployment insurance, that means you have $2,500 of bills that go unpaid. Also, if you draw from a private unemployment insurance, your state/fed unemployment benefits would be reduced by that much.
“max monthly benefits to $1,500 to $2,000. If a wage earner has been used to bringing home $4,000/mth and you are bringing home $1,500/mth though unemployment insurance, that means you have $2,500 of bills that go unpaid”
this is exactly the problem…4000/mo income and 4000/mo in bills. Most people are now living beyond their means. As revolving credit dries up 1q2010 it will get worse.
Was unemployment meant to be a substitute for those loosing their jobs or is it a small bridge until . . . the money runs out?
Some will draw for the full length of time and many will be left to sink or swim.
Unemployment was never meant to be a permanent solution . . . only a lifeline.
You are correct Mr. Stivers, SUI/FUTA was meant to be a crutch. Unfortunately, many today have had their financial and employment limbs amputated so the crutch means very little. With the large number of white collar unemployed right now, there will be no improvement in the economy until re-employment begins. Unemployment is at a 26-year high and the job opportunity numbers are at a nine year low. The two taken together paint a dismal picture.
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