Legislation sponsored by Assemblyman Joseph Egan to help laid-off New Jersey workers take advantage of extended federal unemployment benefits is now law. “With New Jersey’s unemployment rate still hovering around 9 percent and 15,000 more individuals applying for benefits two weeks ago, this extension will help beleaguered New Jersey residents desperately trying to find work,” said Egan (D-Middlesex/Somerset). “This an important step toward ensuring working class New Jerseyans get sustained help when they need it most.”
The new law (S-3186/A-4437) will implement the option provided under the recent federal law signed by President Obama, which will extend federal unemployment insurance (UI) benefits until Feb. 29, 2012, two months after they were set to expire.
Essentially, the law makes the necessary adjustments to New Jersey’s Extended Benefits Law in order to ensure that those who are unemployed will continue to receive fully-funded extended unemployment benefits for as long as the federal government continues to subsidize them.
The legislature unanimously passed similar legislation (S-2680/A-3795) earlier this year after the federal government extended UI benefits until January 3, 2012. The legislation was signed by Governor Christie in April.
The new law also includes a trigger that will automatically extend the benefits at the state level should the federal government extend them again at any future date.
The continuation of UI benefits under this law will pose no cost to New Jersey’s UI fund or employers in the state, because the benefits are contingent upon 100 percent federal funding.
“During the current recession, the average length of a person’s stint on unemployment has reached over 40 weeks. Because basic unemployment benefits last only 26 weeks, the average person that becomes unemployed will draw on at least some extended benefits, making this law all the more necessary,” added Egan.
Egan noted that the unemployment rate in New Jersey at the close of 2011 remained at 9.1 percent, according to the latest available statistics. There are currently over 412,700 unemployed workers in New Jersey. TLS.
why work if you can collect forever , when are they going to learn
Hey Democrats how about creating some jobs in the private sector, thanks for the money BUT I WANT A JOB!!!
I love unemployment. Now my wife can ask her employer to fire her, so she can get unemployment benefits, save on babysitting and cleaning lady, (and go on welfare) and basically comes out with the same amount of money as when she was working. (And maybe even come out ahead!)
And now she doesn’t have to work! She can live for free on the government’s dime!!!!
Hurray! You got to love Democrats. No more incentive to work.
Here comes China as the world’s new superpower and economic engine, unless the Republicans can stop this train wreck in time.
May be the Republicans can create private sector jobs so that I can go back to work.
Anon –
If Obama and the Democrats are out of the way, Republicans will be able to cut the size of the government, thereby unleashing the private sector to create the necessary jobs.
November can’t come soon enough!!
What does the size of govt have to do with private sector jobs? My bother was laid off this last year…his boss (McKesson Corp) paid himself over $150 MILLION dollars last year and has a $470 MILLION dollar retirement package.
Obama or Democrats have nothing to do with corporate greed. These CEO’s are padding their bank accounts with the cheap taxes they are paying right now and have ZERO incentive to invest in their own company when they can just take all the money, let the business fail with ZERO impact on them. Sure all the employees lose their jobs, but they walk away billionaires while paying 15% in taxes. Thats when they are not spending millions more on lobbying so they can eliminate unions from protecting their employees and making sure that tax rate never rises. “Job creators”? More like bank account creators…their own. Wake up!
it pays to be unemployed.