Indi Guy
Indi Guy's JournalNorth Carolina’s Jobless Face a Double Whammy of Aid Reductions...
Source: Washington Post
...North Carolina is joining the growing ranks of states that have decided they can no longer shoulder the growing financial burden of the unemployed. But it stands alone in violating a law that disqualifies its jobless from collecting federally funded unemployment benefits, which would allow the states jobless to collect up to 47 weeks of additional aid.
The reason is the way North Carolina which at 9.2 percent has the nations fifth-highest jobless rate went about slashing its benefits.
Not only did the state reduce the maximum number of weeks someone could collect state benefits from 26 to 20, it also reduced the maximum weekly benefit from $535 to $350. On top of that, North Carolina is reworking how unemployment benefits are calculated, which advocates say will reduce the average weekly benefit from about $296 to the low $200s.
It is a self-inflicted wound, said George Wentworth, senior staff attorney of the National Employment Law Project...
Read more: http://www.washingtonpost.com/business/economy/north-carolinas-jobless-face-a-double-whammy-of-aid-reductions/2013/02/14/6e32fa2c-7601-11e2-95e4-6148e45d7adb_story.html
Change.org is hosting a petition against NC's actions to:
- Cut the maximum benefit amount by 1/3 to $350 per week: No state has ever made such a severe cut.
- Cut all benefits by changing to a formula no other state uses.
- Cut the maximum weeks of benefits from 26 weeks to a sliding scale of 12-20 weeks. Only two other states (Florida and Georgia) do this.
- Cut benefits for workers who lose their job because of health reasons or family reasons.
- Cut off federally-funded extended benefits completely to 80,000 North Carolinians as of July 1, 2013. NO STATE HAS EVER DONE THIS.
Petition -- https://www.change.org/petitions/stop-north-carolina-s-attack-on-it-s-unemployed-workers#share
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