KITCHEN: BILL EXTENDING UNEMPLOYMENT BENEFITS PASSES SENATE

            HARRISBURG, July 29 – State Sen. Shirley Kitchen said she was pleased that crucial legislation that would use federal money to extend unemployment benefits for Pennsylvanians has unanimously passed the state Senate today.

            “This vote couldn’t have come sooner,” Kitchen said. “Thousands of Pennsylvanians, through no fault of their own, have lost their jobs and have exhausted their unemployment benefits. They need extra help to get back on their feet, and this legislation provides the funding to extend those benefits.”

            The legislation, House Bill 1770, would adjust the formula used to determine Pennsylvania’s unemployment rate to open up $145 million in federal aid that would pay for extended benefits for the affected workers. The measure would extend the unemployment compensation benefits by seven weeks.

            The measure received nearly unanimous passage in the House of Representatives, but had stalled in the Senate Labor and Industry Committee for over a week before the legislation was amended to make its action retroactive as of July 1 to account for the 17,880 Pennsylvanians who just lost their unemployment compensation benefits recently, including 4,180 from Philadelphia.

            On July 20, Kitchen joined numerous Democratic Senate and House colleagues and Gov. Ed Rendell to urge swift movement on House Bill 1770.

            “While I’m unhappy that the Republicans let this legislation sit too long in the Labor and Industry Committee,  I’m proud of my Democratic colleagues who brought this lack of movement to light and helped move this legislation forward,” Kitchen said. “These unemployed men and women and their families cannot wait one more day to have their benefits extended.”

            The bill now moves back to the House for concurrence on this amended legislation.

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