LANSING – Saying that Michigan's working families need and deserve support while the state recovers from tough economic times, State Representative Aldo Vagnozzi (D-Farmington/Farmington Hills) today urged the U.S. Congress to extend federal unemployment benefits for workers who have lost their jobs in Michigan's struggling economy.
"Many Michigan workers have exhausted their state unemployment benefits and are barely making ends meet through no fault of their own," Vagnozzi said. "Unemployment payments are the lifeline that workers need to provide necessities such as groceries, gas and medications for their families. As we continue to struggle with the highest unemployment rate in the nation, it is only right that we support our workers while they are out searching for new jobs in their field or retraining for work in new ones."
Congress is considering legislation that calls for unemployment benefits to be extended by up to 20 weeks in most states. States with high unemployment rates – including Michigan – would see unemployment benefits extended an additional 13 weeks. Michigan residents currently get up to 26 weeks of unemployment benefits. The plan in Congress could provide unemployment relief for a total of up to 59 weeks for Michigan workers who have lost their jobs through no fault of their own.
Vagnozzi introduced a resolution in the Michigan House today urging Congress to approve the federal extension. The
resolution was adopted unanimously.
With jobs hard to come by, the unemployment rate in Michigan has been hovering around 7 percent for months. Over the
past year, 156,000 Michigan residents have exhausted their unemployment benefits and 72,000 more are expected to exhaust
theirs in the first half of this year, according to a June 7 article in The Detroit News.
"As we fight to create good-paying jobs now and move our economy forward, we can't abandon our workers who have lost their jobs to outsourcing and downsizing," Vagnozzi said. "The federal government must step up and provide support for our workers during these tough economic times. I urge my colleagues in Congress to pass this plan immediately."