Federal Emergency Unemployment Compensation Program payments will come to an end on Dec. 28, because Congress has gone into recess without extending them, according to an announcement from the V.I. Department of Labor.
Nationally the expiration of the federal benefits is expected to stop payments to about 1.3 million long-term unemployed whose state unemployment insurance has expired, according to a Dec. 4 report from the White House Council of Economic Advisors and the U.S. Department of Labor (see related links below).
Failing to extend the benefits locally will stop payments to roughly 3,500 Virgin Islanders, while extending them through the end of 2014 would preserve about 238 jobs that would otherwise be lost, according to the White House report.
Several news outlets, including the Huffington Post, have reported that some congressional Democrats, including Sen. Tom Harkin (Iowa) and Rep. Chris Van Hollen (Md.), plan in January to push to retroactively extend benefits, while many Republicans have not committed one way or the other on the issue yet.
EUC is a temporary federal program that gives additional unemployment benefits to qualifying people who have exhausted their regular unemployment compensation. It is paid for entirely with federal dollars.
Because of the program’s end date, no new EUC claims can be filed and payments will end after Dec. 28 for all claimants currently enrolled in EUC. This means unemployment insurance claimants must exhaust their regular unemployment benefits by Dec. 21 and file a EUC claim effective Dec. 22 or earlier and can only receive benefits through the week ending Dec. 28, according to the V.I. Labor Department.
People currently enrolled in EUC will continue to receive benefits and can move on to the next tier only if the tier is triggered on and if they qualify – until Dec. 28.
The Gov. John deJongh Jr. administration "is working with Congress to support an extension," Labor Commissioner Albert Bryan said in a statement. But unless that happens, the program will expire.
"Nevertheless, unemployed residents will continue to receive re-employment and workforce development services to prepare them for returning to work and potentially better job opportunities. The department still has the training funds available and encourages customers to take advantage of the opportunity,” said Bryan.
Job seekers can search for available jobs, create resumes, access educational service and view V.I. labor market information from the Department of Labor at www.vidol.gov.
