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Stalled Senate could affect thousands of Minnesotans’ unemployment benefits
The numbers are still rough, but Kentucky senator Jim Bunning's political stand against a 30-day extension of unemployment compensation may affect 8,000 to 9,000 Minnesotans, according to the Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development (DEED).Right now, it's a wait-and-see situation, but unlike the situation in other states, benefits in Minnesota aren't going away immediately.
"Nobody's lost any money today," said said DEED attorney Lee Nelson. Nelson said the department has fielded thousands of calls from confused, concerned Minnesotans. They’re asking callers to wait to apply for extensions until Friday, when they hope Congress will have dealt with the one-man filibuster.
In Minnesota, unemployment benefits start on Sunday, so asking people to wait until Friday does not affect their benefits.
There are four tiers of unemployment compensation in Minnesota — the three tiers of federal emergency unemployment compensation held up in Congress right now, and one tier of federal-state extended benefits. If Congress doesn't pass the extension the state will have to reshuffle its unemployment benefits structure, but should be able to cover the vast majority of Minnesotans who apply for benefits.
Once the department knows what Congress plans to do, it can decide for which tier people qualify.
"If Congress reauthorizes, it's not a problem," Nelson said. "If they don't reauthorize then people will be put on this [federal-state] extension but it will be less than if they received the other extensions."
Nelson added that the Senate's actions are creating unnecessary work and turmoil for his office. "It's very expensive for us," he said. "We've gotten a huge amount of phone calls and we're not doing other work…it's costing administration dollars to deal with this."
In addition to the unemployment benefits, Bunning's Senate roadblock is also affecting the COBRA health care benefits authorized under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. According to John Schadl, communication director for Rep. Jim Oberstar, 1,818 of the 2,682 Minnesota applicants for subsidized benefits "stand to lose the subsidy because of the Bunning hold."
Update from Eric Roper:
Sen. Al Franken took up the issue on the Senate floor at around 6 p.m., targeting Bunning for not invoking budget offset concerns when he voted for President Bush’s tax cuts several years ago.
“Principles can’t be ignored, even when it’s expedient or advantageous to do so,” Franken said. “And yet that’s exactly what’s happening now. A principle’s being invoked only now that it’s convenient.”
Hayley Tsukayama is an intern at the Star Tribune's Washington bureau.
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