GOP Senate May Refuse Receipt of $273 M in Federal Unemployment Funds

[JPZenger]

http://www.philly.com/philly/news/47135717.html

"The federal government is offering $273 million in stimulus funding to help more Pennsylvanians qualify for cash unemployment benefits. But four months after the offer was made, the legislature has not taken the money. And there is no certainty it ever will. Republican leaders and business groups - in Pennsylvania and some other states - object that the funding would come with unacceptable strings attached.

Pennsylvania would have to slightly modify its law governing how long and how steadily a person must have worked to qualify for aid. When the stimulus money runs out, opponents say, the state would be left paying the more liberal benefits on its own - about $69 million a year, at current jobless rates. Democratic leaders ... say the $69 million is a relatively minor amount, anyway, for an unemployment fund that spends $2 billion to $3 billion a year, depending on the economy.

Democratic State Rep. Marc J. Gergely ... said that, within a week or so, he would introduce a bill to take advantage of the funds. But he said he did not expect action soon. "Why wouldn't we want $273 million for the families of Pennsylvania?" said Gergely, who represents an old steel area in the Monongahela Valley near Pittsburgh. "This isn't for luxuries. It's for basic necessities."

New Jersey, the first state to qualify for the money, received $207 million March 27 and is using it to help the unemployed. So far, 31 states have qualified for at least a portion of the money, which totals $7 billion nationally."