Fifth District Report
Column by Tom Perriello
I want to update Virginians on some of the efforts I am undertaking in Congress to get our economy back on track.
You may recall in the Sept. 28 edition of this newsletter, I wrote that the U.S. House voted to extend unemployment benefits only in states where the unemployment rate is 8.5 percent or higher. Virginia, which has an unemployment rate of 6.5 percent, was not one of the states that would benefit from this bill, so I voted against it. At the same time, I continued to work for solutions for regions like Southside Virginia, which still face local unemployment rates that are unacceptably high. I lobbied congressional leaders and introduced legislation to extend unemployment benefits in all states, including Virginia. Read more
Forbes votes for unemployment-benefits extension
Congressman Randy Forbes (R-4th) announced today that he voted in favor of H.R. 3548, to allow workers to draw an additional 14 weeks of federal unemployment benefits after exhausting their regular 26 weeks of state compensation. According to the Joint Committee on Taxation, the bill is revenue neutral and paid for through a number of offsets. Read more
Webb pushes unemployment-benefits extension
Sen. Jim Webb today called on the Senate to pass a comprehensive proposal, which he cosponsored, to extend unemployment insurance by up to 14 additional weeks for jobless workers in all 50 states. Nearly two million out-of-work Americans face expiring benefits by the end of the year.
The critical measure was stalled last week by Republican leadership but is expected to more forward in the Senate in the coming weeks. In a competing House proposal, only states with jobless rates above 8.5 percent would qualify for a 13-week extension in benefits for the unemployed, which would exclude Virginia and twenty-two other states from receiving federal funds. Read more
Unemployment rate up nationally
The employment situation in Virginia and the Shenandoah Valley is looking a bit better. The situation nationally – not so much.
The national unemployment rate inched up from 9.7 percent in August to 9.8 percent in September, according to a report released today by the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Read more
Employment numbers continue to improve
The state unemployment rate dropped in August to three percentage points below the national average, and the rate also dipped locally in the Central Shenandoah Valley.
The state rate was at 6.5 percent in August, down from 6.9 percent in July and 7.3 percent in June, according to data on the Virginia Employment Commission updated Wednesday. Read more
Perriello working on unemployment-benefits issue
Congressman Tom Perriello is fighting to extend unemployment benefits in Virginia after the U.S. House passed a bill that did not benefit Virginia workers.
Last week, the U.S. House passed H.R. 3548, the Unemployment Compensation Extension Act, which only applied to states with unemployment rates of 8.5 percent or higher (Virginia’s is currently at 6.5 percent). Prior to the vote, Perriello wrote to House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer asking that regional considerations be made to account for areas like Southern Virginia with high unemployment rates. Because the bill would not benefit Virginians, Rep. Perriello broke with his party and voted against the bill. Yesterday, he sent a letter to the House Ways and Means Committee Chairman urging short- and long-term solutions for regions like Southern Virginia. Read more
Looking up
Posted by afp on January 14, 2010 · 1 Comment
Column by David Reynolds
Submit guest columns: freepress2@ntelos.net
So they set the stage. While the sky did not fall – they said that everything else would. First, let’s go back to March 6 of last year. The pessimists, those who make a living predicting every year the return of the Great Depression, were looking pretty good. They predicted bad tidings, except for Christmas day when the markets are closed. Of course, the pessimists were wrong. On the last day of 2009 it was the bulls with the smiles. The bears? Well, you know what bears look like.
Another example on the economic front. Following World War II there were the same fears as today. Therefore Congress passed The Full Employment Act of 1946, cosponsored by my favorite Democrat, the happy warrior, Sen. Hubert Horatio Humphrey. In 1978 when the economy was again looking down and unemployment was an unacceptable 6.1 percent the goal was to reach full employment – defined as 4.0 percent unemployment – not zero! Read more
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