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July 16, 2010
Preserve a Vital Safety Net for Laid-Off Workers and Promote
Economic Growth:
Support H.R. 5618, The Restoration of Emergency Unemployment
Compensation Act of
2010
Dear Senator,
On behalf of The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human
Rights, a coalition charged by itsdiverse membership of more than
200 national organizations to promote and protect the rights ofall
persons in the United States, we urge you to support H.R. 5618, The
Restoration of
Emergency Unemployment Compensation Act of 2010. H.R. 5618 would
extend the filingdeadline for extended unemployment insurance
benefits until Nov. 30, 2010. The most recentextension of these
provisions expired June 2, 2010.
Extending unemployment benefits will help the economy recover
while providing badly neededassistance in todays historic economic
crisis. As recently documented by the CongressionalBudget Office,
the extension of jobless aid also provides the most significant
boost to theeconomy and job growth of any policy option being
debated by Congress, and has beenresponsible for creating or
preserving 800,000 jobs this year alone. In addition to providing
anurgent safety net for laid-off workers, the extension of
unemployment benefits has a positivestimulative effect because the
money is quickly recycled through the economy. TheCongressional
Budget Office estimates that each dollar spent on unemployment
benefitsgenerates $1.90 in economic stimulus.
The need for these benefits is great. In May, up to 46 percent
of the unemployed had been out ofwork for more than 27 weeks. But
these problems are not affecting all communities equally;there are
dramatic disparities by race, age, and single-parent households. As
documented by theBureau of Labor Statistics, while overall
unemployment in May was unacceptably high at 9.7percent, among
African Americans the jobless rate was a staggering 15.5 percent,
among Latinos12.4 percent, among households headed by a single
mother 11.6 percent, and among youth 26.4percent. The National
Employment Law Project estimates that 2.5 million workers have
beencut off jobless benefits since the provisions expired in June,
causing states to lose millions permonth in stimulus spending
Without even the minimal income that unemployment insurance
benefits provide, the risks tofamily stability, health, and safety
are dangerously high. With the jobless rate at 9.5 percent, alevel
not seen since the deep recession of the early 1980s, Congress
should enact the extension
now.
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July 16, 2010
We urge you to support H.R. 5618. If you have any questions,
please contact Corrine Yu, Senior
Counsel, at 202-466-5670, or Nancy Zirkin at 202-263-2880.
Sincerely,
Wade Henderson Nancy ZirkinPresident & CEO Executive Vice
President
