Senate OK's Unemployment Benefits Bill

By Christian Wright Tuesday, February 09, 2010

RICHMOND – The state Senate on Monday approved a bill extending unemployment benefits for Virginians in job-training programs and providing benefits to people who lose their jobs for compelling family reasons.

The Senate voted 31-9 in favor of Senate Bill 239. All of the Democratic senators voted for the legislation. Nine of the Republican senators voted for measure, including Sen. Tommy Norment, and nine voted against it.

Under the bill:

• Individuals who have exhausted their unemployment benefits and are enrolled in approved job-training programs would receive an additional 26 weeks of benefits.

• People who lose their job because their spouse is relocating to another job would be eligible for benefits. People who have to leave for personal family emergencies, such as a spouse falling into ill health, would be covered as well.

“Coverage for personal emergencies is something good which the state has never really considered,” said Sen. John Watkins, R-Midlothian.

Watkins is the chief sponsor of SB 239. Co-sponsors include Democratic Sens. Phillip Puckett of Tazewell, Mamie Locke of Hampton and W. Roscoe Reynolds of Martinsville.

A motivating factor for passing the legislation is the amount of federal stimulus money the state would qualify for under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.

“One hundred twenty-five million dollars could be given to the state from the federal government for adding just these two provisions,” Puckett said.

The $125 million would go into the state’s Unemployment Trust Fund, which pays for unemployment benefits in Virginia. The fund desperately needs money; it currently is borrowing from the federal government.

Richard Cranwell, chairman of the Democratic Party of Virginia, criticized the nine Republican senators who opposed SB 239.

"With unemployment at record levels, all Virginians should come together on bipartisan solutions that put our citizens back to work," Cranwell said.

The bill now goes to the House of Delegates, where Republicans hold a majority.

A companion measure – House Bill 647 – already is pending before the House Commerce and Labor Committee.

Delegate Ward Armstrong, D-Martinsville, is the chief sponsor of HB 647. Its co-sponsors are Democratic Delegates Patrick Hope of Arlington and Roslyn Tyler of Jarratt.

According to the Virginia Employment Commission, the state needs about $20 million a week to provide for unemployment benefits.

“The state, over the next four years, will have to borrow at least $1.25 billion from the federal government to pay for unemployment,” said Don Lillywhite, the commission’s director of employment information services.
Businesses generally oppose the legislation, which would increase their taxes to fund unemployment benefits.

“People will now not have to look for work to receive unemployment benefits, and employers are footing the bill,” said Keith Cheatham of the Virginia Chamber of Commerce.

The House and Senate bills would increase by $2.44 the amount an employer must pay into the Unemployment Trust Fund for each employee on its payroll every year.

The total unemployment tax in Virginia will be $95 per employee next year. It is scheduled to rise to $180 the following year and $264 the year after that.