Virginians Losing Jobless Benefits
Thousands of Virginians are losing federal jobless benefits amid spending concerns on Capitol Hill. Manuel Quinones reports from WCVE's Capitol Hill Bureau in Washington.
Congress has been stalled for weeks on passing an extension of federal unemployment benefits. More than 3 million Americans and more than 40 thousand workers in the Commonwealth will lose benefits if lawmakers don’t act before the end of this month. That’s according to an analysis by the National Employment Law Project.
Hampton Roads area Democratic Congressman Glenn Nye voted against the measure being pushed by Democratic leaders. Several House Republicans voted no too, including Representatives Eric Cantor, Randy Forbes and Rob Wittman.
On the Senate side, Democrat Mark Warner supports an extension now, but is not promising support down the road, worried about the deficit. Some Americans have been getting up to 99 weeks of benefits.
Warner: I think one more extension, that would take us to 99 weeks, but then with an indication that there'll probably be changes from there.
The death of Senator Robert Byrd has complicated matters for Democratic leaders on this and other priorities. They’re eager for a replacement to at least move forward on freeing up money for the unemployed.
From Capitol News Connection, Manuel Quinones, WCVE News, Washington
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