The United States Senate is currently considering a three-month extension of long-term unemployment benefits that would affect more than a million citizens nationwide. United States Sen. Kay Hagan introduced a provision to this bill aimed at providing aid for unemployed North Carolinians.
It is imperative that this bill pass and North Carolinians must let Sen. Hagan and Sen. Richard Burr know so. The state’s national representatives must succeed where those in the state legislature failed.
If a bill including Hagan’s proposed provision is passed, the bill would provide federal emergency jobless benefits to the 170,000 North Carolinians who lost these benefits as a result of irresponsible legislation passed by the General Assembly over the summer.
Some, including Sen. Hagan, have gone as far as to say that the bill passed by the General Assembly was in violation of federal law.
North Carolina’s unemployment rates are among the highest in the country, yet the General Assembly seemingly disregarded this as it made North Carolina the only state in the country to terminate its participation in the Emergency Unemployment Compensation program.
The termination of said benefits have greatly hindered North Carolinians looking to get back on their feet after the economic downturn that plagued our state and the nation. Our unemployed deserve the same safety nets and protections as citizens in other states.
Additional votes on the bill will take place later this week, it is important for North Carolinians and citizens across the country that this lifeline is extended to those in needs. While all the damage that has been done by reckless legislating cannot be reversed, Sen.Hagan’s efforts are a step in the right direction moving forward.
