This post was researched and written by RICLAPP Intern Kayleigh Rogers-Torres, a student at Brown University. Look out for more posts written by Kayleigh coming at you soon!
Struggling to develop a sustainable solution to the current unemployment crisis is very much a national issue, but one that hits home hard for Rhode Island’s nearly 13% unemployment rate. After the US Senate rejected a bill calling for a 30-day-unemployment and health care benefit-extension on Thursday February 25th, two thousand out of work Rhode Islanders were at risk of losing their benefits between now and the end of July. While the impact of this decision would have had minimal immediate impact on current recipients, many individuals would have been cut off from federal benefits up to 53 weeks earlier than planned.
The bill was reintroduced into the Senate and approved by a vote of 78-19 on Tuesday March 2nd. Rhode Island’s own Sen. Jack Reed and Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse had the state’s current 39,000 benefit collectors in mind at Tuesday night’s meeting, as evident by their votes to support the bill. Both Senators expressed their beliefs that longer benefit extensions are needed to allow individuals to securely search for employment knowing that their family is provided for at home.
We will report further regarding the future of this bill as mixed feelings about the measure continue to heat up on the national political stage. While both the House and President Obama have shown support for this bill, many, including Sen. Jim Bunning (R-KY), fear that the $15 billion package will only contribute to the federal deficits and further harm our nation’s economy.
Regardless of one’s own views, the Senate’s initial decision last Thursday to rule against another benefits-extension bill (after Obama’s two month federal unemployment benefit extension in December) is a wake up call to the increasing risk of relying on a band-aid bill that alleviates rather than cures. Before the temporary benefits-extension bill reaches the end of its lifespan, the government can begin to explore more long term innovative plans to increase not just job creation, but also job accessibility. Job access will not only benefit individuals currently receiving unemployment benefits while searching for jobs, it will also benefit those unemployed who have given up looking for work and are consequently excluded from our nation’s unemployment rate. It will benefit not just the unemployed, but rather the unemployed and those with jobs together who share in the economic well being of their communities both on a local and national scale.
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