Senate's vote to extend jobless benefits delayed

Deb Price / Detroit News Washington Bureau

Washington -- Senate Democrats and Republicans traded blows today over who is responsible for the slow pace of voting to extend unemployment benefits, leaving in doubt a final vote before Wednesday at the earliest on the high-stakes issue to tens of thousands of Michiganians.

The delay is infuriating jobless workers like Dave Ellcey of Lawton, who cashed his last unemployment check last week and is starting to borrow money to keep up with bills.

"I feel angry and bitter," Ellcey said. "They (senators) are going to do it eventually. So why are they taking so long? They are affecting people's lives."

Gov. Jennifer Granholm's office in Washington said even if Congress and the president agree on a bill this week, the state's Unemployment Insurance Agency couldn't begin payments to jobless workers who've exhausted their benefits until mid-December.

Today, the Senate has been grinding its way through a 30-hour period of debate that ends shortly before midnight.

Senate Democrats and Republicans haven't been able to work out a deal to proceed more quickly to a vote because Republicans are upset the majority party won't let them offer more amendments.

Sen. Jon Kyl, R-Ariz., defended the delay by fellow Republicans.

Kyl zeroed in on the Democrats' plan to pay for the additional benefits by extending a surtax on businesses through June 30, 2011. He argued that would undermine businesses during the downturn and discourage them from hiring new workers.

Companies pay a $56 tax per employee each year for the unemployment insurance program. That includes a $14 surtax, which is what Democrats would extend to raise $2.4 billion to pay for the extra jobless benefits.

"What we are doing, in order to pay for the extension of unemployment benefits, we tax the very employers when they hire someone and tax them for keeping on their rolls the workers that they currently have," said Kyl, who cited a study finding that 80 percent of the unemployment tax is shifted to workers through smaller paychecks.

"... So who is going to pay for the cost of extending the unemployment benefits? The workers themselves," said Kyl, who supports the extension but not through the surtax.

Sen. Richard Durbin, D-Ill., shot back that during the 26-day delay by Republicans, 180,000 Americans cashed their final unemployment checks.

"When the unemployment check ends, they know it," Durbin said. "Because that's the check that puts bread on the table, that's the check that pays the mortgage and the utility bills, keeps their family together."

The Senate bill would extend 14 additional weeks of benefits to all states, plus six more weeks for states with at least an 8.5 percent unemployment rate. Michigan's rate is 15.3 percent -- the highest in the nation.

The House passed legislation in late September that would target 13 weeks of additional benefits solely to states with at least 8.5 percent unemployment.

It is unclear whether the House and Senate will work on a compromise bill, or whether the House will take up the Senate bill. President Barack Obama has signaled he will sign it.

Michigan provides up to 79 weeks of unemployment benefits.

As of Oct. 16, nearly 44,500 Michiganians had cashed their last unemployment check.

Between Oct. 16 and Jan. 8, another 54,300 will exhaust their benefits without an extension.

Meanwhile, 600,000 Americans have cashed their last checks. Without congressional action, 1.3 million Americans will have gone through their last checks by year's end.

dprice@detnews.com (202) 662-8736