A Hand Up, Not a Handout for Jobless

As many as 1.6 million jobless Americans have exhausted their unemployment benefits. These workers need help to support their families and encouragement to continue to look for work. President Bush can--and should--provide that help.

Bush has until Saturday to sign legislation that would extend unemployment benefits for up to 20 weeks. For the measure to take effect, Bush would also have to declare an emergency. A budget agreement requires that new programs be financed by a tax increase or spending cuts or through presidential declaration of an emergency.

The President has declared emergencies to provide U. S. assistance to Kurdish refugees, Bangladeshi disaster victims and the governments of Israel, Turkey, Egypt and Poland. Jobless Americans deserve no less.

Current law provides up to 26 weeks of unemployment benefits for most workers. Employees who exhaust those benefits may be forced to apply for welfare, food stamps, medical assistance, housing subsidies or other forms of government aid. Better they should get a little more time to look for a regular paycheck than be forced to accept welfare.

The bill on the President’s desk would extend jobless benefits for up to 20 weeks in states with an average unemployment rate of 8% or higher during the last six months.

Workers would receive up to 13 weeks in California and other states with an average jobless rate of at least 7%.

Employees in states with an average rate of 6% would get seven more weeks, while workers in states with a lower unemployment rate would get four additional weeks of benefits. That scale directs the help to where it is most needed.

This assistance would be temporary for most. The measure would take effect Sept. 1 and expire next July 30 for all jobless workers with the exception of veterans who have recently left military service, including those who served in the Persian Gulf War; the bill would increase the veterans’ 13 weeks of assistance to as many as 26.

Some White House aides have argued against the extension because the $5.8-billion cost over five years would increase the deficit. Bush’s advisers have also argued that the recession is easing and more jobs are right around the corner. To bolster that claim, they point with optimism at the slight dip in unemployment figures last month, when the national jobless rate fell to 6.8% from a five-year high of 7%.

But tell that to the more than 6 million Americans who are out of work and to the many others who fear being laid off as large and small companies take steps to contain costs or simply go out of business.

President Bush should extend unemployment benefits to give jobless Americans a hand up, rather than force them to take a handout.