North Carolina Restores Extended Benefits

First topic message reminder :

I did a search and I couldn't find this posted anywhere so I made a new thread.

I went to print out some more work search forms today and I saw a notice on the Unemployment commission website saying that due to the decline in the unemployment rate that North Carolina no longer qualifies for extended benefits. The last week payable will be 4/16.

The unemployment rate went down from 9.8% to 9.7%. It has never been below 9.5% which I thought was the cut off rate. Something seems wrong here.

Does anyone else have any more information?

NC Democrats seek to pressure GOP on unemployment

If interested...this is a great place to get updates:
http://www.ncpolicywatch.com/category/newsopinion/legislative-watch/

And if you twitter, here's a great place to get the word out on responses or lack there of from your representatives.

https://twitter.com/#!/NCPundit

Please use the report button (exclamation point) if you feel a comment or post is offensive.

We will do the best we can to resolve the situation immediately.

Thanks for the information. I have found a discussion forum that seems to be more proactive and directed. I am still glad I found this forum and will continue to follow.

DesperateInRI wrote:Please use the report button (exclamation point) if you feel a comment or post is offensive.

We will do the best we can to resolve the situation immediately.

dkhardin wrote: EXTENDED BENEFITS its not gonna happen..read between the lines. My vote will be carefully mulled over.

Please help others in NC get this legislation passed by joining in their efforts in a positive manner. Negativity serves no purpose. Advocating and contacting the legislators in NC that are mentioned in this thread can make a world of difference.

If it weren't for people like this, who are going out of their way to change this law, I would agree with you. However, a lot of hard work and effort has gone into trying to make a change and get this bill passed.

I hope you join them. Every voice counts.

Received this from Rep Rick Glazier:

no direct news at this point. As Democrats, we continue to push every day for the bill to be heard to extend the benefits. Both the Senate and House have filed discharge petitions to force the bill out of committee. We are holding daily news events here and in home districts across the state to push for the benefits. The Republicans simply have denied any hearing on this issue. We will keep trying and have a new idea to try to push the bill out by the end of this week if at all possible. Just hang in there as best you can and keep asking people to write their stories to us as it is helping. Rick Glazier

This was posted from another forum about Sen Berger;
GOP Press Conference from 9:15am 5/10/11

GOP Sen Berger told reporters he feels pain of 37,000 unemployed workers who lost benefits, but won't allow vote on SB584 to extend benefits.

I am going to write CNN and MSNBC and see if we can get bigger media coverage.

The following North Carolina law makers and Governor Beverly Perdue have the lives of the long-term unemployed in their hands holding up action of re-instating extended unemployment benefits. While they continue to ignore the severity of the matter, thousands of households across North Carolina are in REAL TIME CRISIS facing evictions, utility disconnects and hunger. Their health is rapidly declining due to stress and inability to afford health care or if they were to utilize community clinics cannot afford medication. Mentally and physically they are drained but they continue to try to find gainful employment keeping a positive attitude when contacting potential employers. They are even being discriminated against by potential employers for being unemployed for an extended period of time not for lack of skills or failure to meet job requirements.

NC Employment Security Commission's reported statistics on unemployment DO NOT reflect the TRUE numbers of the unemployed and our elected officials refuse to look at the real picture or answers questions.

If you have personally contacted elected officials regarding North Carolina extended unemployment benefits support and their need to act swiftly on reinstating extended them as soon as possible, please list who and their response below and repost this with your additions.

Hopefully with our continued repeat posting and updating information listed below here at citydata NC Extended Unemployment forum, and getting the word out by adding this link in communications on social networking sites like Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter, as well as emailing the press forwarding this link for them to see the responses or lack thereof from elected officials. It would not hurt to mention with link when commenting on news stories on the online editions of newspapers as well as comments made on network television station’s web stories, forums and blogs.

I AM, I CONTACTED, DATE, REPONSE:
soleprovider51, Kay Hagan, she responded to me with a benign stale form letter- FAIL
soleprov1der51, Thom Tillis, totally ignored me for 3weeks, no reply- EPIC FAIL
soleprovider52, Stephen LaRoque, rude and never answered questions, TOP FAIL AWARD RECIPIENT
StrugglinginLenoirCo, wrote Kay Hagan again yesterday & waiting...
StrugginginLenoirCo, wrote Burr again today & waiting...

Hagan and Burr have nothing to do with this. They are in the federal congress and have no vote or input on what laws the state passes.

This is in the state general assembly, state legislators have to be written to get this to pass.

It may not make a direct impact but I bet they are letting the reps know the amount of communications they are recvg on this. Don't fret, just emailed Bill Cook (Beaufort&Pitt), Daughtry (Johnston), Dixon (Duplin & Onslow), and e'd and called Sager (Wayne) today.

Just an FYI from Google News:

http://tinyurl.com/5w2k5py

This broke moderate will be very selective in 2012 on who he votes for in the senate and governor..just saying

dkhardin wrote:This broke moderate will be very selective in 2012 on who he votes for in the senate and governor..just saying

This should go without saying.

Does anyone have any news or responses to email?

just venting......no new news

I received an email from senator Gunn's office today.


The unemployment benefits extension will be in the Senate budget that will be released next week. It has been disappointing that Governor Perdue has shown no willingness to compromise on this issue. The bill sent to her had two common-sense measures-one to extend unemployment benefits and another ensuring state government does not shut down, but she said no.



Senator Gunn sincerely appreciates your email. Your input is extremely important to him while working through the issues and the budget deficit facing the General Assembly this session.





Gayle C. Gunn & Karen S. Johns

Legislative Assistants

Office of Senator Rick Gunn

District 24, Alamance and Caswell Counties

Room 312 LOB

919-301-1446

This is from an aide and not from Gunn himself but it was addressed to me and should be trustworthy.

lendme, I got an email from Rep Rick Glazier saying:

They are now planning on putting in the Senate budget proposal as a way to force the Governor and the Ds to vote for the budget. Again, they refuse to disconnect the two proposals. It is very very sad. We are going to continue to press for an independent vote all next week. The Senate budget will not even be over to the House for another week or two so this is really pure political gamesmanship on their part. Rick

So the same ole thing is going to happen. In the media it's the Republicans that are looking worse than Perdue, but I guess they don't care. They don't respond to my emails so my question is if you care so much why don't you vote on a standalone never is answered?

If what Carolyn Justice said about other Republicans wanting to do something is true, then why won't they sign the discharge petition?

I have a sneaking suspicion that this budget will be veto proof in the house and will pass.

I hope so. There is a facebook page to Reinstate Benefits and a man on there says he has a contact that says something will be coming Monday at 10 am. He seems optimistic. If this happens I hope it kicks in soon. Keeping my fingers crossed.

I am pretty the "something" he is talking about is the senate budget. If the budget is realistic at all the house will have the 4 democrats that they need to override a veto and this will automatically reinstate benefits.

I hear some people are saying that NCESC won't be paying it all out at once but I don't think this is true either. If you have been filing every week all of that will be released at one time.

So you think if the budget is realistic, but Perdue might still veto, that the Dems might accept and override it. I did not think of that scenario.

I think ESC will do a lump sum, because it would be easy if you file every week to keep track of who gets what. I am praying this weekend that we are near the end of the fight.

Well, the budget that house voted on last week WAS veto proof. The senate is already veto proof with just republican votes and the house is only 4 votes short. If the new budget is smaller than a 13% reduction I am pretty positive those same democrats that voted for the house budget will vote for this one. If 60% of both houses vote for a bill Perdue Can't veto it. The danger will be if the house and senate haggle over the budget for another 2 weeks. I saw that TN had a stand alone measure pass their state house. This will leave NC as the ONLY state that has not fixed this.

The pressure is on , hope they feel the squeeze i have seen in here

Yeah me too and it has to happen quick. I don't know what to tell my roommate about June rent.

So, apparently State Speaker Thom Tillis tried to compromise with the governor this week to restore EB to NC. He sent the same continuing resolution but limited it to three months instead of a year and reduced the required 13% reduction in the budget. I am not sure how much it was reduced. Perdue doesn't like this one either.

The good news is that an EB restore clause is in the Senate budget which will pass the senate on May 31st probably. I have a feeling it will pass the house in a veto proof majority which will restore our benefits. It will put us off for at least another week though. It looks like I will be going 8 weeks with no income by this point.

TN came back in session to pass this in a bipartisan bill. I believe we are now the only state to not pass a bill restoring EB.