U.S. Representatives Michael Arcuri and Eric Massa and their New York colleagues in the House of Representatives have voted to throw a lifeline to hundreds of thousands of American workers hit hard by what some refer to as “The Great Recession.”
The U.S. House of Representatives recently passed H.R. 3548 on a 331-to-83 vote. The bill would extend unemployment insurance for 13 weeks to those who are about to exhaust their benefits in certain states - including New York.
You can review the final vote online.
H. R. 3548 would extend benefits in 27 states, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico - places where jobless rates are higher than 8.5 percent. The bill now heads to the U.S. Senate for approval.
The national unemployment rate has reached 9.7 percent and is expected to hit 10 percent within the coming months. Experts estimate that by the end of the year more than 1 million workers will lose their unemployment insurance benefits.