Action Alert: Demand your legislators support a one word fix to unemployment compensation

Posted by AzblueMeanie:

David Safier alluded to the unemployment compensation fix that Democrats are seeking in the Arizona legislature in It's past time to add Al Melvin to the unemployment rolls. Today, the Arizona Republic editorializes along the same lines (less colorful language). Simple fix in law would aid many:

With a one word change in state law, legislators can keep more than 16,000 Arizonans from losing their unemployment benefits. Without spending one penny of state money.

And yet, they might not do it.

But there's no logic in refusing to pass a simple bill that maintains a lifeline for unemployed workers and keeps money flowing into the Arizona economy.

Congress authorized 20 weeks of extended unemployment benefits, federally funded, for workers in states with high jobless rates. These are unemployed people who have been out of work for more than a year and a half. More than 16,000 Arizonans get extended benefits, bringing $3.4 million a week into the state.

But Arizona has been in such a profound slump that it skews the calculations for determining the state's eligibility for extended benefits. Legislators need to tweak the formula, basing it on the last three years instead of two years.

It's that simple. Why not act?. . .

If compassion isn't an argument against cutting off the last thread of income for so many Arizonans, economics should be. This makes no sense for Arizona.

Lawmakers should not go home without making this one-word fix.

Call and e-mail your state legislators right now — they want to declare sine die and go home on Tuesday. Last chance!