BOISE -- Congress could extend federal unemployment benefits that affect hundreds of thousands of Americans, including thousands in Idaho.
According to the Idaho Department of Labor there is an estimated 1,500 Idahoans who lose their benefits every week. But now they may be getting those benefits once again.
“An extension in benefits means the difference between survival and becoming homeless,” said one woman who didn’t want to be identified. She been looking for work ever since she was laid off from her customer service job in 2008.
She went back to school to get an education in healthcare administration, but says finding work in that industry has been difficult. Her federal unemployment benefits ran out recently leaving her panicked as to what to do next.
“I've had to pay my rent on a credit card, I've had to put everything on a credit card, I’ve exhausted all of my savings. I'm borrowing money here and there,” said the unidentified woman.
This woman is just one of over 11,000 Idahoans who've had their federal unemployment benefits expire recently.
“There are a lot of people that they are desperate right now. They're calling saying my unemployment has been shut off and I've got to get a job,” said Wendie Gregory, the branch manager of Manpower, a temp service in Boise. “Some of the people applying right now are overqualified, or I would say they're unemployed right now, but actually they'd be underemployed if they accepted some of the work that we have.”
Which some argue could keep the state's unemployment rate high by people not taking jobs and remaining on unemployment.
“There is a debate, I guess among economists about whether unemployment benefits prolong unemployment, encourage people to remain unemployed,” said Bob Fick with the Idaho Department of Labor.
But that's a claim Fick refutes.
“We've had extended benefits for two years now and our unemployment rate rode up to its peak in February of 9.5 percent and it's gradually declined to 8.85 (percent) in June,” said Fick.
However, for the anonymous woman we interviewed, she says an extension in unemployment benefits is a life line she desperately needs.
"I'm very scared, I'm very scared, this is a difference between do I become homeless, and then if I do become homeless, the fallout from that is going to be a lot harder to recover from than if I just had an extension in benefits long enough to let me look and get a job and become a productive citizen,” she said.
Late Wednesday, the Senate passed a bill restoring unemployment benefits to millions of Americans who have been out of work for six months or more.
President Barack Obama is poised to sign the measure into law after a final House vote on Thursday. It's a welcome relief to 2 1/2 million people who have seen their benefits expire.
