The Deadline to Extend UI and COBRA Programs Before They Expire is Fast Approaching (Again)

[Dulcinea]

Here we are again – the deadline is approaching for the UI and COBRA programs to end, and Congress has yet to fully reauthorize the program. After the success in the Senate a few weeks ago, where they extended the filing deadline of the program through the end of the year, we have experienced some setbacks and are, again, hoping to pass another 30 day extension of the filing deadline.

Here is what happened: although the Senate passed a year-long extension of the filing deadline, it did so as part of a larger bill containing “tax extenders,” provisions of the tax code that lapsed at the end of the last year that the Senate wanted to extend into 2010. The problem is that those extenders were offset with revenue raising measures that the House had already set aside for the health care bill. So the House could not pass the Senate version of the bill, and late last week, passed another 30 day extension of the filing deadline of the UI and COBRA programs so they wouldn’t lapse. The plan is to then deal with the longer extension of the filing deadline once the Health Care bill fully clears Congress.

The Senate is planning to spend virtually the whole week working on Health Care – although the House passed the Senate bill, they are now turning to some “fixes” the House has passed in addition to the bill, and hoping to do it in the context of the Budget. Unfortunately, this will take up virtually all of the floor time this week and then both Houses are on recess until April 12. Thus, the Senate HAS to pass the 30 day extension of the filing deadline via “unanimous consent” which doesn’t mean that everyone in the Senate needs to vote for the bill, but that everyone in the Senate needs to agree that it should have a vote. ONE Senator can hold up the whole process – that’s what we saw Senator Jim Bunning of Kentucky do a few weeks ago. Senator Reid of Nevada tried to move the extension like this last Friday, but was blocked by Senator Jon Kyl of Arizona who stated that because not all Republicans were on the floor, he would not agree to the vote. He expressed optimism that the bill would pass this week and we need your help to make that happen.

http://unemployedworkers.org/sites/unemployedworkers/index.php/content/blog

[Dulcinea]

1. kick

:kick:

[Dulcinea]

2. kick

[upi402]

3. the difference between living indoors and eating food

but we got bankers to compensate for bad gambling debts.