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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE |
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State
Rep. Deberah Kula |
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House sends to governor bill to extend unemployment benefits
HARRISBURG, Aug. 3 – State Rep. Deberah Kula, D-Fayette/Westmoreland, announced today that legislation to give thousands of Pennsylvania workers whose unemployment benefits are in the process of expiring access to an additional seven weeks of benefits is heading to the governor.
The bill (H.B. 1770), which Kula co-sponsored, would prevent some 60,000 Pennsylvanians from losing unemployment benefits through December, by temporarily changing the mechanism Pennsylvania uses to trigger extended unemployment benefits.
Switching the state's trigger to the total unemployment rate, as proposed by the bill, would allow the state to draw on $145 million in federal stimulus money to offer seven weeks of additional emergency unemployment benefits.
"Having already exhausted their unemployment benefits, hundreds of unemployed people in Fayette and Westmoreland counties are breathing a sigh of relief today," Kula said. "This bill provides the only safety net available to thousands of out-of-work Pennsylvanians and I have supported its passage from day one."
The governor is expected to sign the bill.