WASHINGTON, DC - Congressmen Patrick J. Kennedy and Jim Langevin will today vote to provide an additional 13 weeks of unemployment benefits in states where the unemployment rate exceeds 8.5 percent, including Rhode Island. H.R. 3548, the Unemployment Compensation Extension Act of 2009, once enacted, will help approximately 2,500 Rhode Islanders who are projected to run out of unemployment compensation by the end of September. It will also help the nearly 4,500 Rhode Islanders who will exhaust their benefits before the end of this year. 

“The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act has worked to stabilize the economy through federal investments in new energy technologies, transportation infrastructure, and small business development, but we still have a long way to go. While Congress continues to work to create jobs, lower health care costs, and rebuild our economy, we must also assist the hundreds of thousands of Americans who have lost their jobs through no fault of their own.  This bill will ensure that they can continue to keep a roof over their heads, heat their homes, and afford necessities for their families,” said Kennedy.

“This bill provides a critical boost to the many Rhode Islanders who are struggling to find employment,” said Langevin, an original cosponsor of the bill. “While unemployment benefits and stimulus programs help jumpstart our economy in the short term, Congress must also work to build a new foundation for a lasting recovery.  That is why we are making much needed reforms to our health care and financial systems and investing in our education and workforce training systems.”

In order to receive these benefits unemployed residents must:
- Have lost a job through no fault of their own
- Be actively searching for a job
- Be able to work
- Have worked twenty weeks prior to being laid off

Only unemployed workers who become eligible for the additional weeks of benefits before January 1, 2010, will qualify for this extension.   

HR 3548 will not add to the deficit as it extends for one year the federal unemployment tax that has been in place for more than 30 years and requires better reporting on newly hired employees to reduce unemployment insurance overpayments – both of which were proposed by President Bush and supported by the Obama Administration.
 
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