Expanding Unemployment Insurance
The impact of the great recession has been a case study of the importance of Virginia’s unemployment insurance (UI) system, which provides an important financial cushion to Virginians who lose their jobs through no fault of their own. By temporarily replacing part of their wages, the system works to provide income support to families to help fathers, mothers and children pay for basic needs like food and shelter and helps keep them out of poverty. While states must run their UI programs according to federal requirements, states have wide discretion over who is eligible to receive benefits and the level of benefits they receive. Last year, we advocated in support of modernizations to the state’s Unemployment Insurance program in order to draw down additional federal stimulus funding to help struggling workers. Although the interests of the business lobby prevailed in the recent legislative session, there is still time: the federal dollars remain available until 2011. Once again, we will be taking a stand in support of hard working Virginians, temporarily displaced by the economic downturn.
