Amendment could delay jobless benefits bill

Deb Price / Detroit News Washington Bureau

Washington -- Sen. Jeanne Shaheen announced today she'll introduce an amendment to give all states 13 weeks of extra unemployment benefits, plus an additional four weeks on top of that for Michigan and other hard-hit states.

The move by Shaheen, D-N.H., threatens to delay what had been hoped would be speedy action in the Senate on extra benefits for Michigan and other hard-hit states.

The House voted Sept. 22 to give Michigan and other states with unemployment rates of at 8.5 percent an extra 13 weeks of benefits. Michigan's rate is 15.2 percent -- the highest in the nation.

What happens next week in the Senate over unemployment benefits is critical to tens of thousands of Michigan jobless workers who've cashed their last check. Eventually, the House and Senate must agree on a single plan.

David Ellcey, a 46-year-old unemployed heating and air-conditioning worker from Lawton, says he's "very concerned" the Shaheen move may delay extra benefits. He gets his last check at the end of the month.

"I need that money for food, gas and transportation. I really need that extension to pass," Ellcey said.

The snag in the Senate comes as the Labor Department today announced the nation's jobless rate is 9.8 percent. -- the highest since June 1983. In September, 15.1 million Americans were unemployed, the highest number since 1939.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nevada, and Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus, D-Mont., will propose four extra weeks for all states, plus 13 additional weeks for the 27 hardest-hit states, a Democratic leadership aide said today.

But that clearly doesn't satisfy Shaheen, who plans to offer an amendment to the Reid-Baucus bill, setting the stage for a battle next week.

"Our unemployed workers are in crisis -- their benefits are drying up and the job market continues to decline," Shaheen said.

"It is our responsibility to our workers and to our economy to make sure that our nation's unemployed can pay the mortgage and keep food on the table while they look for work. With unemployment reaching record highs, four weeks of extended unemployment benefits simply won't cut it," Shaheen said.

Shaheen said she would pay for her idea by redirecting interest and dividends received from banks in the Troubled Asset Relief Program.

"The economy seems to have turned around for big banks' executives, but today's record unemployment rate proves that it hasn't yet turned around for millions of American workers who still can't find a job," Shaheen said . "If we can bail out the big banks that got us into this financial mess, we should also offer sufficient help to the people hit hardest by this recession -- our unemployed workers."

Shaheen has support. She and 16 other senators wrote a letter earlier this week to Baucus and ranking Republican Charles Grassley of Iowa complaining the House bill would "exclude hundreds of thousands of workers in 23 states."

dprice@detnews.com (202) 662-8736