Senate vote risks unemployment benefits for possibly 100,000 Ohioans
Plain Dealer – CLEVELAND, Ohio — A bill extending unemployment insurance stalled Wednesday in the U.S. Senate, potentially leaving nearly 100,000 Ohioans without benefits by month's end.
A dozen Democrats joined Republicans on a key 52-45 vote rejecting a $140 billion package of unemployment benefits, aid to states, tax breaks for businesses and families, and Medicare payments for doctors because it would swell the federal debt by $80 billion.
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In a news conference after the vote, Sen. Sherrod Brown, a Democrat, expressed concern at the bill's defeat.
"Every day that Americans don't receive the unemployment insurance they're due is another day more American workers and families slip into poverty," he said.
"Most of the Republicans who voted 'no' on continuation of unemployment insurance don't have any friends who are unemployed," Brown said. "They don't get out enough and see the suffering in this country when people lose their jobs."
