5,050 Job Seekers in Westchester, Rockland Counties, 1.4 Million Across U.S. Have Lost Unemployment Benefits Since December 29^th

Lowey: “House Republicans should stop demanding a ransom for helping the millions of Americans struggling after losing the lifeline of emergency unemployment insurance.”

Lowey: U.S. Also Needs Minimum Wage Increase

NEW CITY, NY – At a roundtable today with Rockland County job seekers and labor leaders, Congresswoman Nita Lowey (D-Westchester/Rockland), the senior Democrat on the House Appropriations Committee, urged House Republicans to hold a vote to retroactively extend emergency federal unemployment benefits to more than 5,000 Lower Hudson Valley job seekers who have lost them since the program expired on December 29^th. 

Congresswoman Lowey also said that Congress should raise the federal minimum wage to $10.10. The federal minimum wage is $7.25, and New York’s was recently increased to $8.00.

“Even as they defend wasteful tax breaks for big corporations, Republicans still insist on leaving unemployed job seekers out in the cold this winter. House Republicans should stop demanding a ransom for helping the millions of Americans struggling after losing the lifeline of emergency unemployment insurance,” said Congresswoman Lowey, the senior Democrat on the House Appropriations Committee. “Now is the also time to raise the minimum wage to $10.10, delivering a pay increase for 30 million hard working men and women, and lifting more than 4.5 million Americans out of poverty.”

After House Republican leaders adjourned the House in December without extending federal unemployment insurance benefits, New Yorkers who have been receiving benefits for more than 26 weeks began losing access to jobless aid beginning on December 29^th.

As a result, 1,060 individuals in Rockland County and 3,990 in Westchester County have lost their unemployment benefits. Statewide, more than 127,000 New Yorkers have lost their benefits, draining $38,860,825 from New York’s economy. Nationwide, 1.4 million Americans have lost the much-needed financial support.

Each week that Congress fails to renew the jobless aid, another 72,000 Americans, including an additional 5,000 New Yorkers, join those who have already lost their unemployment benefits.

According to a recent report, failure to extend unemployment insurance for six months could cost New York State 19,826 jobs.

“A lot of people in the Lower Hudson Valley are struggling after losing the lifeline of emergency unemployment insurance. The loss of these benefits makes it just that much harder for them to put food on the table, pay the rent, and care for their families,” said Gil Heim, President of Rockland County Central Labor Council and Member, IBEW 363. “Congress needs to do the right thing for workers in New York and around the country, and restore this lifeline for hard-working families.”

Unemployment assistance averages $300 a week in New York State, where the unemployment rate is 7.6%.

Congresswoman Lowey also cited the need to increase the nation’s minimum wage, which would increase workers’ paychecks and deliver fairness to the economy. Congresswoman Lowey is the cosponsor of legislation that would increase the federal minimum wage to $10.10.

Recent research found that a majority of Americans support extending emergency unemployment insurance benefits, including a majority of Republican voters. A majority of Americans also support raising the minimum wage.

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