More confusion for PA Residents: Reducing Pennsylvania's Unemployment Insurance 'A Fairness Thing,' GOP Lawmaker Says

A Republican member of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives says he wants to reform the state's unemployment insurance system in part because the way benefits are currently calculated lets workers take a paid vacation for most of the year.

Perry's bill also includes a provision that will preserve the state's eligibility for the federal Extended Benefits program, which gives the long-term unemployed their final 20 weeks of assistance in states with high unemployment rates. In several other states in recent months, including Michigan and Missouri, Republican lawmakers have paired measures to keep Extended Benefits with measures to reduce state benefits. If no law is passed, 45,000 Pennsylvanians will stop receiving EB checks after June 11.

The state House of Representatives will consider Perry's bill on Monday.

http://tinyurl.com/44th3ve

Perrry's bill failed in the House.

Senate Bill #1030 passed 49-0 in the Senate today, although now it changes how benefits are determined. It says "Final Passage." I don't know if this goes to the House now, and then the Governor. Perhaps they will wait until the US House and Senate bills come out Thursday, to see if the Governor will sign it. I really don't know. Dazed

PA House votes down Chamber backed bill to slash unemployment benefits

http://unemployedworkers.org/sites/unemployedworkers/index.php/site/blog_entry/pa_house_votes_down_chamber-backed_bill_to_slash_unemployment_compensation

Today's vote was seen as a clear victory for Pennsylvania's unemployed workers, and for working families across the state. Rep. Perry's bill, which has the strong backing of the Pennsylvania Chamber, would reduce Unemployment Compensation (UC) benefits overall by 20 percent through a combination of new benefit amount and duration calculations, as well new restrictions on benefits eligibility. It would completely disqualify many of Pennsylvania's unemployed workers who currently qualify for benefits, reduce the average weekly benefit for those who would still qualify from $324 to $277, and impose the most severe cuts in the history of the state's UC program.

http://statehousenewsonline.com/2011/05/24/house-rejects-unemployment-compensation-legislation-ejected/

Man, these people, I just don't know why or what they are thinking, read this:

SB 1030 passed the Senate unamended Tuesday and now heads to the state House.

Sam Rohrer, state director for Americans for Prosperity – Pennsylvania, a grassroots conservative organization, said the most important issues for taxpayers are paying off the state’s debt, including from the unemployment compensation fund, and avoiding higher payroll taxes on employers and employees.


“A large percentage (of state debt) is underfunded pensions, but ($3. billion belongs to the unemployment compensation (fund),” he said. “(The legislature and governor) can’t kick the can down the road. They must step forward and pay that off, because ultimately the taxpayer is dramatically harmed if the state does not pay off the debt. … It must happen.”



Rohrer, a state legislator from 1993-2010, left the state House after a failed bid for Pennsylvania governor this past year.


The NFIB's Shivers said while SB 1030 is a “good start,” the legislation does not “go far enough, and it’s going to result in employers facing massive tax increases.”


Sam Denisco, director of government affairs for the Pennsylvania Chamber of Business and Industry, echoed Shiver’s statement.


“The Senate bill needs to go further,” said Denisco. “The House bill, we believe, encompasses the reforms to unemployment compensation law that will bring the unemployment compensation trust fund to solvency … and reduces our loan balance to the federal government to zero.”


House Majority Leader state Rep. Frank Dermody, D-Allegheny, said Tuesday that Democrats successfully led the way in “protecting workers,” when HB 916 was rejected on second consideration.


“Pennsylvania workers won an important victory today when the House resoundingly defeated a bill that threatens their security,” Dermody said. “By restricting eligibility for unemployment compensation and deeply cutting benefits, this bill would take away the lifeline that thousands of workers depend on to survive when they lose a job through no fault of their own.”

Well at least 30 Republicans went thumbs down on hb916, but it get another vote tomorrow. I think sb1030 is the one that will pass.

I can't stand these grass roots people who say is is all about money, yet it is, don't you know. Dazed

Yeah, at least 916 went down. Still not sure that 1030 will get through. How these people can be so purely evil, I don't know.