WASHINGTON – The Senate on Tuesday cut off a Republican filibuster of a bill that would extend unemployment benefits by an additional 20 weeks in Rhode Island and other states suffering from high joblessness.
The Senate voted 87-13 to end debate and allow a final vote on the legislation, which would provide 14 weeks of extra benefits to unemployed Americans in every state and six more weeks beyond that in Rhode Island and other states with jobless rates of 8.5 percent or more.
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“This is a national issue, an emergency,” U.S. Sen. Jack Reed, D-R.I., who is sponsoring the measure, said Tuesday in a speech on the Senate floor. “It requires attention and action now, not weeks from now.”
The extension would make Rhode Islanders eligible for unemployment benefits for as long as 99 weeks, depending on the specifics of their situation. The jobless rate in Rhode Island was 13 percent in September, according to the R.I. Department of Labor and Training.
Under current law, out-of-work Rhode Islanders can receive unemployment checks for a maximum of 79 weeks, or about a year and a half. The state offers one of the most generous benefits in the country, with a maximum benefit of $546 without dependents or $682 with five dependents. (The amount that jobless workers receive is based on their salaries before they lost their jobs.)
The economic stimulus law signed in February by President Barack Obama added an extra $25 payment to unemployment benefits and made the first $2,400 in benefits tax-free.
In Rhode Island, about 3,600 people had exhausted their unemployment benefits as of last Friday, according to Laura Hart, a spokeswoman for the R.I. Department of Labor and Training.
The department is projecting an average exhaustion rate of 150 people a week in the coming months, which would bring the total number of exhaustions to about 5,000 by the end of the year.
The House of Representatives on Sept. 22 approved a more limited bill that would provide 13 additional weeks of benefits to workers in states where the unemployment rate is 8.5 percent or higher.
It was unclear Wednesday when the Senate would hold a final vote on the extension, because the legislation could face more procedural hurdles in the chamber. The different House and Senate bills would also have to be harmonized before the bill could be approved and sent to the president, who supports an extension, for signing.
Democrats and Republicans in the Senate had been at odds over how to pay for the additional benefits and whether Republicans could propose amendments on immigration and the controversial group ACORN. There had also been internal disagreements among Democrats about who should be eligible for an extension.
In his speech, Reed noted that Congress had voted eight times since 1958 to extend jobless benefits during periods of high unemployment.
“These past votes, under Republican and Democratic presidents and majorities of both parties in the Senate, demonstrate the nonpartisan nature of extending unemployment insurance when the economy is weak and unemployment is high,” he said.
If an extension becomes law, the R.I. Department of Labor and Training will notify individuals who are eligible by mail and general information will be posted online at dlt.ri.gov, Hart said.
As I perceive it the hardest place to install E-Verify, 287 G, or even directing ICE to raid employers is Sanctuary Cities and even States? CALIFORNIA seems to be the epitome of Sanctuary States, but it is estimated to be 127 cities and towns that ignore the US government. San Francisco and Los Angeles stands out as being Sanctuary cities where it’s mayors Galvin Newsom and Antonio R. Villaraigosa, along with an compliment of police departments who have cultivated over the years a refuge for the impoverished illegal immigrants, illegal criminal of other countries. Very few businesses have enforced E-Verify, because at this time there is no mandatory law, except for federal contractors/subcontractors. Sen. Sessions has at this time been the fortress against illegal immigration through the Bush and now President Obama administrations. He is determined to adjoin E-Verify as a permanent amendment to the Senate Unemployment benefit extension bill H.R.3548 for 14 weeks. In the same amendment Sen. Sessions would require new applicants for unemployment compensation to have their citizenship status verified using E-Verify. The computer software program E-Verify could also be used for identifying applicants for drivers licenses, automotive insurance, all health care benefits, real estate purchases and mortgage and of course ineligible workers. Even the Public option if enacted in health care could be used to verify all positive recipients and over time become a very sophisticated matrix of data bases to reject ineligible applicants for government benefits.
Senate leaders are currently negotiating which amendments will be considered for the bill, and Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) is trying to prevent a vote on the amendment altogether. E-Verify is becoming a significant potent weapon against illegal immigration in the ongoing battle. It has come under constant legal bombardment by a long list of open border organizations, including the US chamber of Commerce. E-Verify however remains intact, although other enforcement tools such as 287 G, has been weakened by Homeland Security chief Janet Napolitano. Without millions of dollars being appropriated, E-Verify on a continuous basis can eradicate illegal labor for pennies. No need for mass deportation as E-Verify will streamline removal of foreign nationals, owing to parasite businesses will be in incessant fear of being fined or sentenced to a prison term if apprehended by ICE for using illegal workers. As with 2010 census? Those who entered without–THE PEOPLE’S–permission, have violated our laws, and should not, must not be allowed to be enumerated in the decennial census? Is Washington so sure that they will pass this 2nd Amnesty, when Ted Kennedy previous comprehensive immigration reform turned into fraudulent travesty?
Ordinary American workers have become watchdogs for suspicious activity in the working environment. My blogs, comments and articles are limited in information, but keep this issue under public scrutiny. For more details of malevolent politicians who need to be constantly reminded who they work for? For immigration enforcement grading NUMBERSUSA. To light a fire under nonchalant politicians who are selling American workers futures to highest bidder contact WASHINGTON at 202-224-3121 As easily as you voted for these people, you can vote them OUT? Demand NO–MORE–AMNESTIES. Rebuild a two-tier Southern border fence as originally intended. TELL THEM YOU WANT PERMANENT E-VERIFY FOR EVERY WORKER, WHO’S ON A PAYROLL. STAND WITH SEN. SESSIONS. Study the corruption in every level of government at JUDICIAL WATCH. Read about unstoppable OVERPOPULATION GROWTH at CAPSWEB. Read lists of legislators are trying to push through another path to citizenship–alias AMNESTY at http://tinyurl.com/CIR-letter-to-POTUS. THESE CONGRESSMAN/ WOMEN WANT TO STEAL YOUR JOB AND GIVE IT TO ILLEGAL ALIENS? KEEP THEM EMBOSSED IN YOUR MEMORY AND UNSEAT THEM WHEN THEY COME FORWARD FOR RE-ELECTION.