WASHINGTON, DC- U.S. Senator Bob Casey (D-PA) today took to the Senate floor to urge swift action on legislation to help out of work Pennsylvanians. Specifically, Senator Casey advocated for extension of emergency unemployment compensation and COBRA.
“We know that in the past couple of days we passed a jobs bill, the so-called HIRE Act, a good piece of legislation for small business, for economic vitality but also for preserving and creating lots and lots of jobs,” said Senator Casey. “But that jobs bill is not enough. We've got to pass these safety net provisions on unemployment and COBRA health benefits.”
Senator Casey also said, “The Congressional Budget Office says that for every buck, every $1 spent, on unemployment insurance benefits, up to $1.90 is contributed to the gross national product. This is further evidence, in addition to what I and many others have quoted, Mark Zandi from moodys.com and so many other economists tell us, you spend a buck on unemployment insurance, COBRA benefits or food stamps – all of those safety net provisions to help workers who lost their job. When you spend those dollars you not only help someone who needs help and should have the help we can provide, you also help our economy literally by jump-starting spending.”
Last month, Senator Casey spearheaded a letter signed by 31 senators urging an extension through the end of the year for unemployment insurance and the COBRA health care subsidy. The letter was sent to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and Senate Finance Chairman Max Baucus.
Full text of Senator Casey’s speech is below:
Senator Robert P. Casey
Remarks on extension of emergency unemployment compensation and COBRA
We have 560,000 people out of work right now in Pennsylvania. Our rate is lower than a lot of places but we still have that many people out of work, a very high number. Maybe not historic but close to a historically high number, 560,000 Pennsylvanians.
There are lots of ways to try to understand what people are going through and try to get a sense of what people are living through. I had a chance a couple of weeks ago to sit with eight of those 560,000 people in a -- what's called a CareerLink, a job center in Pennsylvania where people are filling out scores of applications applying for jobs. And in the case of these eight individuals, they were all over the age of 50, many over the age of 60 and 70, some of the worst situations are those who are in that age bracket, who worked for years, 20, 30 years at one job and did it very well and through no fault of their own, they're out of work. And listening to their stories gave me a better insight into what people are -- are up against every day.
A number of comments were significant and relevant and poignant, but one in particular by a woman by the name of Debbie who said, something very simple but telling about what is in her heart and what she's living through. She said simply, “We just want to get back to work.” Very simple statement. But that's I think on the minds of a lot of Americans who are out of work and their family members. They just want to get back to work. And they also want to see that Washington is not just legislating -- that's obviously important and we'll talk a little more about that in a moment -- but that we're trying to understand what they're up against, that they do just want to get back to work. It's that simple.
One of the ways that we can do that is by making sure that those who are out of work, those something like 15 million Americans out of work through no fault of their own, that we do something to help them in the next couple of days just to get through the next couple of weeks, literally, with unemployment insurance and COBRA health insurance and so many other ways.
We should note that the eligibility for emergency unemployment compensation and for COBRA -- known as COBRA premium assistance -- really health insurance for the unemployed -- that both of those will expire this Sunday, February the 28th. If an extension of the unemployment insurance programs authorized by the Recovery Act is not passed, 1.2 million workers will lose their unemployment benefits by the end of March. So we've got to act now to prevent that from happening.
It's unfortunate that it seems there's only an agreement to keep extending it from December to February and then from February into March or the end of March. We should extend it a lot further than that. I think we're going to have an opportunity to do that. But at a minimum, we have to make sure that unemployment insurance is extended and COBRA health insurance.
There are other reasons to do that as well, and the most important reason is the people who will be positively impacted by those actions. But an extension of these federally funded unemployment compensation and COBRA programs through December 31 of 2010, what we should do is extend it that far, but they're necessary for a number of reasons.
State labor departments will not be under pressure to constantly update their systems and inform constituents of changes in federal law. We should give them the kind of certainty and predictability that they should have a right to expect. Certainly the state government officials, but more importantly the families affected. Persons who were recently laid off will constantly be reminded that their unemployment benefits may run out sooner than expected, especially at a time when there are six applicants for every one job. And, thirdly, it is important to take action on unemployment insurance and COBRA health insurance coverage for a third reason as well: at a time when millions of people don't have health care coverage itself, failure to provide an adequate safety net to ensure people maintain affordable health insurance coverage will only add to the rolls of the uninsured in America, in the midst of this debate on health care.
And two of three other points before I conclude. According to the Congressional Budget Office, the CBO, which we keep quoting in the health care debate and in so many other debates. The Congressional Budget Office says that for every buck, every $1 spent, on unemployment insurance benefits, up to $1.90 is contributed to the gross national product. This is further evidence, in addition to what I and many others have quoted, Mark Zandi from moodys.com and so many other economists tell us, you spend a buck on unemployment insurance, COBRA benefits or food stamps – all of those safety net provisions to help workers who lost their job. When you spend those dollars you not only help someone who needs help and should have the help we can provide, you also help our economy literally by jump-starting spending.
We know that in the past couple of days we passed a jobs bill, the so-called HIRE Act, a good piece of legislation for small business, for economic vitality but also for preserving and creating lots and lots of jobs. But that jobs bill is not enough. We've got to pass these safety net provisions on unemployment and COBRA health benefits. But we also have to put more job-creation strategies on the table and get bills passed to create more and more jobs.
The recovery bill is still having an effect, still having a tremendous impact in Pennsylvania. We still have a whole year left of spending and the benefits of that spending in Pennsylvania and a lot of other states. I see my colleague from Pennsylvania, Senator Specter, with us today. He and I have been seeing that up close in Pennsylvania. A tremendous impact already but still more to go on the recovery bill that he voted for under great pressure not to vote for it, and thank goodness he did, because without his vote, that bill wouldn't have passed. And millions of Americans’ lives would be adversely impacted if we didn't pass the Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009.
So we have a long way to go, much more work to do across the country and to have a positive impact in Pennsylvania. One concluding thought on unemployment. Unfortunately, it's bad news. When you look at Pennsylvania, we might have a lower rate than a lot of states but we do have those 560,000 people out of work. But unfortunately more and more we're seeing in different labor markets in Pennsylvania, the Erie labor market, for example, is at 10%, the Lehigh Valley – Allentown, Bethlehem and Easton, that region is at 9.8%, hovering around 10%. Northeastern Pennsylvania, my home area is at 9.7%. So even though our rate has not yet hit statewide 9%, we're seeing in different pockets that number going way up.
So we have to continue to put job-creation strategies in the pipeline, continue to have the Recovery Act to have a more positive impact and thirdly we need to make sure that we pass safety net provisions. With that, madam president, I would yield the floor and note the absence of a quorum.
###
