Senate Votes to Restore Unemployment Benefits

Washington

By a 78-19 vote on Tuesday night March 2, Senate Democrats crashed through the Republican roadblock set up by retiring Senator Jim Bunning (R-KY), and passed an extension of unemployment benefits.  The bill will restore unemployment benefits to more than 200,000 recipients who faced immediate loss of benefits, and extend COBRA subsidies for those currently receiving them. If Congress had failed to pass the extension, the National Employment Law Project estimates that 1.2 million people would have lost unemployment benefits by the end of March.

The following 19 Republican Senators opposed the restoration of unemployment benefits and COBRA subsidy, by voting "no". This list comprises a "hall of shame" for callousness toward the plight of families suffering from unemployment.  Thanks to all the UE members who mobilized on short notice and helped push for passage of this important bill.