Jobless Benefits Could Be Extended With Strings Attached

A national group says Arkansas could receive an additional $95 million in extended unemployment benefits, but it would come with strings attached.

Kelly MacNeil with our content partner, KUAR-FM 89 News, reports:

The National Employment Law Project, or NELP, says Arkansas could get about $95 million in extended benefits – 13 extra weeks of checks for some people.  All it would have to do is change the way it figures its unemployment rate.

“Our calculation is that if Arkansas were to enact the necessary changes to their state law, about 27,000 people could qualify for these benefits during 2011,” said George Wentworth, the group’s staff attorney.

Normally the state would have to pay half the cost of those extra unemployment checks.  But under the stimulus, Wentworth says, the federal government is now covering the entire cost.  And yet, Arkansas has chosen to pass.

At issue is the way the state calculates its unemployment rate. To qualify for the extended benefits, Arkansas workforce officials would have to include people without jobs that aren’t drawing unemployment benefits, which they contend is difficult to do.

The state also doesn’t have an accurate estimate of what its liability could be, another reason it has passed on the program.

You can read and listen to the full report from KUAR-FM 89 News at this link.