Act Now to Save Jobs and Protect the Jobless

As of March 1, nearly 1.2 million jobless people will lose their unemployment insurance benefits, unless the Senate acts ASAP to renew the extension that was part of the economic recovery act. Those who had employer-sponsored health insurance will also lose the COBRA subsidies that help them keep it.

The Senate can't wait till the expiration date. In fact, the National Employment Law Project said that damage would be done if the UI provisions weren't extended by February 19. That's because state agencies can't wait till the extension expires to begin reprogramming their computers and sending out termination notices. Many of their systems are very old. So it could take them months to program the extension back in.

The workers who will be immediately affected are those who've been unemployed for quite a long time. Many will probably have exhausted whatever savings they had. As months go by, more and more workers will lose their benefits. NELP says they'll total nearly five million by June. Check out this chart to see the totals for your state.

Like other safety net provisions in the economic recovery act, the unemployment insurance extension doesn't only cushion economic hardship. It also preserves and creates jobs because people who receive the benefits spend them quickly on basic necessities.

Stimulus guru Mark Zandi, chief economist at Moody's Economy.com, has said that the UI extension has delivered more "bang for the buck" than any other part of the stimulus package. The Congressional Budget Office concurred, finding that UI benefits produce $1.90 in growth for every dollar spent. This is even greater than earlier estimates.

Up to 800,000 jobs could be lost if Congress allows this stimulus to expire. Clearly, our Senators need someone to light a fire under their tails.

We have three quick and easy ways to do this:

• Sign the petition to send an email to your senators urging them to make sure unemployment insurance and COBRA subsidies don't expire at the end of the month.
• Since a personal phone call has an estimated 1,000 times the impact of signing a petition, pick up the phone. Access the Jobs for America Now "end of the line" page, enter your phone number and click the button. You'll get an automated call that will connect you to the Capitol switchboard.
• Connect to the switchboard directly with this toll-free number: 1-888-460-0813. Either way, you'll need to make two calls to reach both your Senators.

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