Question of the Week: Unemployment
These questions are culled from phone calls, letters, faxes and e-mails sent to my Thousand Oaks, Solvang, and Washington offices. Each week I will add another question and answer.
Week ending November 6, 2009
• Question: Did you support extending unemployment benefits?
→ Answer: Yes, I voted in favor of H.R. 3548, the Worker, Homeownership, and Business Assistance Act of 2009, which was approved by the House of Representatives on November 5, 2009. This legislation, which is an updated version of the bill I voted for in September, would extend unemployment benefits for an additional 14 weeks for all states and an additional six weeks for states with unemployment rates above 8.5 percent, which includes California. In September, California’s unemployment rate was 12.2 percent.
This bill also extends the $8,000 tax credit for first-time homebuyers for five months, from November 30, 2009, to May 1, 2010. In addition, the bill provides a $6,500 tax credit for homebuyers that are not first-time buyers, but have owned a primary residence at least five consecutive years during the past eight years.
President Obama signed H.R. 3548 into law on November 6, 2009.
While extending unemployment benefits will help those most hurt by these trying economic conditions, I believe what America needs right now is jobs. I believe that creating jobs should be our government’s top domestic priority, and you can be assured that I will continue to fight for legislation that will accomplish this goal. You may wish to read the statement I released Friday on the nation's 10.2 percent unemployment rate, the highest since 1983, “Congress must focus job creation, not job killing.”
Also, for more information on the ecomomy, please see my Economy key issue page.
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