As the Senate debates unemployment benefits, Sen. Kay Hagan, D-N.C., is including a provision to restore the state’s benefits.
Federal unemployment insurance expired on Dec. 28 and the Senate is currently debating a bill to extend benefits.
But North Carolina lost its federal unemployment benefits in July after the N.C. General Assembly reduced benefits from $535 per week to $350 per week. States receiving unemployment insurance were prohibited from making cuts to benefits.
As a result, Hagan included a provision in the bill to allow unemployment benefits to return to North Carolina.
“As we slowly regain jobs lost during the Great Recession, out-of-work North Carolinians should not suffer because of the General Assembly’s reckless actions,” Hagan said in a statement.
While Hagan may believe restoring unemployment benefits for North Carolinians is good policy, it also positions her directly against the policies of the N.C. General Assembly, and her main Republican opponent for re-election, N.C. House Speaker Thom Tillis, R-Mecklenburg.
View from the Hill is a political blog by Daily Tar Heel staff writers. Any opinion expressed in it does not represent the Daily Tar Heel. Email the blog coordinator at dthviewfromthehill@gmail.com.
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