Ohioans face uncertainty over jobless benefits
Beacon Journal – Going into the holiday season, tens of thousands of Ohioans are unsure of whether emergency jobless benefits meant to help them weather the recession will be around come New Years.
Nearly 77,000 jobless Ohioans draw federal unemployment benefits, and more than a quarter of those rely on the benefits to pay their mortgages, utility bills and grocery bills, The Columbus Dispatch reported (http://bit.ly/uftUXv ). Unless Congress funds another extension of the benefits, those Ohioans will lose them in early January.
Lawmakers could decide this week whether to extend benefits.
“Congress should not go home for the holidays while leaving 70,000 Ohioans and their families in a lurch,” said Democratic Sen. Sherrod Brown. “Ohioans who have lost their job through no fault of their own should be able to count on the unemployment insurance they paid into while they were working.”
