JANUARY 1, 2012 UNEMPLOYMENT BENEFITS EXTENDED FOR 2 MONTHS
12/17/2011 - The Senate just passed a bill that will extend unemployment benefits for 2 more month for everyone that was going to lose them at the end of this year. If you have been out of work for more than 6 months, you were looking at having them end once the new year started. But with this new short term extension that was just passed, you will be eligible for 2 more months of payments.
As with many things in Washington, the extended unemployment benefits was part of a larger package that included payroll tax cuts, a pipeline, medicare and other things. It’s too bad they can’t vote up or down on one thing at a time rather than politicizing everything and grouping them together.
This will all start up again in February as both Obama and the Democrats battle with Republicans about what to fund, what to extend, and what to cut. You need to continue to pay attention to the news to see whether next time they can pass legislation that will extend unemployment benefits for a longer period instead of this two month band aid.
