State Sen. Fontana Discusses Unemployment

As we start 2012, many individuals receiving unemployment compensation are uncertain what their future holds. The economy is gradually showing positive signs of a recovery and the unemployment rate is slowly decreasing.

Extending unemployment benefits has been a contentious issue for Congress over the past several years, most recently in December. Still, unemployed Americans received good news that Congress has extended emergency unemployment for 60 days. However, Pennsylvania’s General Assembly must act for the unemployed to receive this federal extension. 

Pennsylvania provides an individual who has lost their job through no fault of their own with a standard unemployment compensation which starts as 26 weeks of eligibility, regardless of the state of the economy. The availability of federal extended benefits is determined by Pennsylvania’s unemployment rate and how it compares to the state’s jobless rate of prior years. A little over a year ago, the U.S. Congress passed a law allowing states the option of altering the existing process to look back three years instead of two. To take advantage of that option, Pennsylvania’s law must be changed by adding another two months to get a rate high enough to qualify for the extended benefits.

This is not the first time state law had to be changed in order for Pennsylvania’s unemployed to receive these federal benefits. Most recently, it occurred in June 2011 when the General Assembly passed Senate Bill 1030 (SB 1030), which extended unemployment benefits until the end of 2011. In addition, several changes were added into Pennsylvania’s unemployment compensation system, which saved the state about $120 million.

On Jan. 23, the Pennsylvania Senate passed Senate Bill 1375 (SB 1375) that provides the mechanism necessary for the state’s unemployed to receive the additional 60 days of federal extended benefits. The bill is now before the House Labor and Industry Committee. Many representatives are hesitant to pass such legislation because SB 1375 fails to address the solvency of the state’s unemployment compensation trust fund; these individuals feel that the legislature can use this bill as a vehicle to fix additional issues. Come Feb. 4, if the Pennsylvania House of Representatives does not pass this bill, about 17,000 individuals statewide will lose their extended benefits, 3,000 of which live in the Pittsburgh area.

Allegheny County has held a relatively lower unemployment rate when compared to neighboring counties and to the rest of the state. In fact, our unemployment rate has continued to decline throughout this year. Numbers recently released by the Federal Bureau of Labor and Statistics show that Allegheny County’s unemployment rate was 6.4 percent in November 2011, compared to 7.3 percent in November 2010. While these numbers are encouraging, we must continue to look for ways to help the economy recover quickly.

Earlier last week, I stood with my fellow Senate Democrats and outlined our priorities for the year’s upcoming budget. Last year, Senate Democrats presented Governor Tom Corbett with a comprehensive plan called PA WORKS NOW. Over the past year, we have refined and improved upon this plan. PA Works focuses on small business, workforce training, critical state investments, clean and green energy, infrastructure investment, and tax fairness. Furthermore, it also gives individuals the opportunity to retrain for fields that are outside of their expertise in hopes of finding employment elsewhere. Overall, the plan will spur the creation of 28,000 jobs, leverage over $2 billion in new private investments and result in more than $150 million in savings to the state.

Inaction is something that we, as a Commonwealth, cannot afford. The issue of job creation is one which the Governor has been silent on during his first year in office, and his lack of leadership has hurt Pennsylvania. I will continue fighting for PA WORKS NOW, to protect Pennsylvania’s working class and get people off unemployment and into jobs while investing back into our communities. I look forward to continuing to work on initiatives that put the people of Allegheny County back to work.