Unemployed Ohioans seek benefits extension

COLUMBUS -- For the second year in a row, thousands of unemployed Ohioans face the holidays uncertain about whether their jobless benefits will continue into the new year.

Nearly 77,000 jobless Ohioans -- more than a quarter of whom rely on unemployment to pay their mortgages, utility bills, and grocery bills -- will exhaust benefits in early January unless Congress agrees to fund another extension of federal assistance.

By early April, 107,000 more workers would fall off the rolls, the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services said.

Beginning next year, Ohio employers will pay more in taxes. The penalty will be assessed for the state's failure to repay the federal government the $2.5 billion it borrowed to keep its unemployment trust fund afloat the past two years.

On average, employers can expect to pay an additional $21 per employee in 2012.

Federal emergency unemployment benefits expire Dec. 31, a lifeline that Congress approved in 2008 to help thousands of jobless workers get through the worst recession in decades.

Since then, lawmakers have OK'd nine extensions.

If they fail to pass a 10th, assistance -- which for three years has been available for up to 99 weeks -- will drop sharply to the 26 weeks available through the traditional state program.

While the nation's unemployment rate fell to 8.6 percent in November, those who have been out of work the longest continue having difficulty finding work.

"We still have a huge crisis of severe long-term unemployment. That's not gotten much better," said Christine Owens, executive director of the National Employment Law Project.

In November, 5.7 million Americans -- 43 percent of the unemployed -- had been out of work for six months or longer as the average length of unemployment climbed to a record 40.9 weeks.

John Reat of Worthington lost his information-technology job two years ago and says he has gotten only six or seven face-to-face interviews and no job offers. At 62, he knows his prospects are bleak.

"There are jobs out there, but I believe, in general, companies are looking for people with very specific skill sets, and if you don't fit the profile they are looking for, you are not going to get an interview," said Mr. Reat, who is among those who could lose benefits in January.

"The frustration is I've worked all my life, paid my mortgage, paid taxes, saved for my children's education, saved for retirement, and then this happens."

Democrats have been vocal about passing an extension, but many Republicans support it, too.

There's been little of the partisan bickering that dominated last year's debate, but that could change this week when lawmakers begin talking about restricting eligibility and other ideas for offsetting costs.

"Congress should not go home for the holidays while leaving 70,000 Ohioans and their families in a lurch," said Sen. Sherrod Brown (D., Ohio). "Ohioans who have lost their job through no fault of their own should be able to count on the unemployment insurance they paid into while they were working. We need to pass an extension of unemployment insurance, while working to promote job creation."

Sen. Rob Portman (R., Ohio) said he assumes that unemployment benefits will be extended before the end of the year. However, he said, he's still concerned about how to pay for it.

"We want to be sure that while we are extending unemployment insurance, that we are not making things worse by adding more and more to the deficit and accumulating debt, which makes the economy worse," he said.

Republicans reportedly are working on a plan to extend unemployment benefits but bar certain workers from receiving them, such as those who had earned more than $100,000 a year.

Rep. Pat Tiberi (R., Genoa Township) said he's not convinced the 99-week extended period to get unemployment has been helpful.

"Some have argued that the longer you're on unemployment insurance, the more difficult it is to get back into the work force," he said.

"We need to get something done that provides a social safety net but also doesn't create a system where people are sometimes encouraged not to take a job because they have another 30 weeks of unemployment benefits," Mr. Tiberi said.