Hoosiers who have been laid off for more than a year and are fast approaching the end of the cushion they get from unemployment checks got a welcome sign from Congress on Wednesday.
The Senate approved legislation 98-0 to extend jobless benefits for up to 20 weeks in states like Indiana that have high unemployment rates.
Sens. Richard Lugar, R-Ind., and Evan Bayh, D-Ind., voted for the bill.
The House approved a less generous bill last month. The House version allows an additional 13 weeks of unemployment benefits for states with high unemployment rates. The legislation won’t go to President Obama until the differences are ironed out.
Workers are typically eligible for up to 26 weeks of unemployment checks if they lose their job through no fault of their own and are covered by the program. Congress has extended the benefit program twice.
Now 18,000 Hoosiers are in the last 20 weeks of eligibility, and their payments would run out by the end of the year if there is no extension or if they don’t find a job.
About 3,500 people in northeast Indiana are in that boat, including 1,200 in Allen County, according to data from the Indiana Department of Workforce Development.
In addition to the 18,000 Hoosiers whose unemployment benefits will end by Dec. 31, about 189,000 people statewide are claiming unemployment benefits.
The Senate bill would provide an additional 14 weeks of benefits to any unemployed American. People in hardest-hit states – such as Indiana – with an average three-month unemployment rate of 8.5 percent would get an additional six weeks of checks.
The 13-week extension the House approved in September would apply to the 27 states where the unemployment rate was above 8.5 percent in August. Indiana’s unemployment rate in August was 9.9 percent.
Economists have predicted that nationally, more than 1 million people will run out of unemployment benefits by the end of the year.
The Senate’s bill also includes an extension of the $8,000 credit for first-time homebuyers.
