How nice. Congress is headed home for the holidays. Whew. Must be a relief to have that lame duck session wrapped up.
Let’s hope our representatives will have enough time to get their holiday shopping done. They might notice the stores are a little less crowded this year. They can chalk it up to a bad economy. They would be mostly correct. But they also ought to consider the fact that hundreds of thousands of people who are without work just got word that their federal unemployment benefits are running out at the end of the year. And Congress decided to do nothing about it.
Bah, humbug.
The Senate came up with a plan — drafted by a Republican and a Democrat — to extend federal emergency unemployment benefits through March 29 before it packed its bags and headed out. Senators said no to the House’s plan of a five-week extension. Too stingy. That left the House to approve the Senate’s plan or nothing at all.
Nothing at all is what we got.
And it’s going to hurt — especially in Washington.
The number of people in our state who are receiving these benefits that are set to expire right after Christmas is a staggering 45,400, the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities estimates. The only states that top us are California, New York and Texas. Finally, we’re near the top of a list.
Our state’s delegation — Republicans and Democrats alike — pushed for the House to approve the Senate’s plan but they were shut out. House leaders just didn’t have time to deal with it. They’ll deal with it when they come back next year. What a relief for the thousands in our area who were wondering if they could afford even a meager Christmas this year. And what a consolation prize for the additional 5,000 Boeing employees who are going to lose their jobs in 2003. Don’t worry just because Congress couldn’t figure out this critical issue in a matter of months this year. Surely, our elected officials can reach an agreement next year or the year after that.
This isn’t the first time the federal government has dealt with the issue. After the recessions in 1982 and 1991, benefits were extended for 34 and 30 months, respectively. When the money dries up at the end of December, benefits will only have been extended for 10 months.
Most of our state’s delegation, including Republicans, plans to send a letter to President Bush, asking him to intervene. He should listen — and take action.
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