State Ends Supplemental Jobless Aid : Labor: California could share cost of keeping program, but Gov. Wilson has vetoed such attempts, citing the tax burden.

Thousands of out-of-work Californians are getting more bad news: The state has quietly stopped granting supplemental jobless benefits, a move that advocates for the poor say will push more people onto the welfare rolls.

Jobless workers in the recession-battered state are still eligible for 26 weeks of regular unemployment insurance, but they can no longer collect unemployment benefits beyond that period.

Previously, under a federal-state program that expired this month, some long-term unemployed workers in California received up to 33 weeks of supplemental assistance after exhausting their regular benefits. It provided up to $230 a week in benefits, the same maximum as under regular unemployment insurance.

Over the next month, 45,000 to 50,000 Californians are expected to exhaust their supplemental benefits, and another 30,000 to 36,000 are expected to use up their regular unemployment assistance.

Congress approved the so-called emergency unemployment compensation program in November, 1991, and renewed it several times while the U.S. economy was struggling. But after the nation’s business recovery gained steam in recent months--and with declining numbers of workers qualifying for regular and supplemental unemployment insurance--lawmakers decided to let the program die.

Some advocates for the poor say that many of the jobless in California--which has the second-highest unemployment rate in the nation and continues to struggle despite the national upturn--could be hit hard by the program’s demise.

“The reality is that people are looking for work and they’re not finding anything,” said Laura Fry, an employment lawyer with the Legal Aid Foundation of Los Angeles.

In big counties across the state, social services officials said they so far have noticed no substantial increase in long-term unemployed workers applying for welfare.

“It does seem like we’re seeing something, but it’s hard to tell” until more figures are in, said Angelo Doti, director of financial assistance for the Orange County Social Services Agency.

He added that the numbers are likely to increase as the jobless workers’ savings run out. “Most people don’t apply for social assistance unless they’re really desperate,” Doti said.

But Shannon Bowman, a spokeswoman for the California Health and Welfare Agency, said officials in Gov. Pete Wilson’s administration doubt that the benefits cutoff will put significantly more people into the welfare system. She said state officials in the past have never noticed a direct link between unemployment insurance cutoffs and a rising demand for welfare, and they do not expect it this time.

A handful of states with high unemployment, including California, could still participate in a backup extended-benefits program, provided they split the cost with the federal government. However, Wilson has twice vetoed attempts to bring the state into the backup program, citing the extra tax burden it would place on employers.

“With the fragile business climate, the governor is trying to do everything he can to keep business in California,” Bowman said, adding that the state government believes that emergency unemployment insurance should be a federal responsibility, especially because federal cutbacks have contributed so greatly to the state’s current high unemployment.

Under the emergency jobless benefits program, no new applications are being accepted from people who have exhausted their regular 26 weeks of unemployment insurance. However, emergency benefits that were approved before Feb. 5 can continue up to April 30.

The expiration of the emergency benefits program comes amid efforts by the Clinton Administration to overhaul the entire unemployment insurance system. U.S. Labor Secretary Robert Reich said in a recent interview that the Administration will send Congress a proposal within a month that would provide incentives for people on unemployment insurance to seek job training.

Among other things, the bill would allow workers to receive unemployment insurance for up to 18 months provided they were in approved job training programs.

California Unemployment

After hitting a peak in 1991, the number of jobless workers seeking regular unemployment insurance has declined. The figures include all workers who received regular unemployment insurance for any period.

1988: 985,000 1989: 1,033,000 1990: 1,227,000 1991: 1,511,000 1992: 1,471,000 1993: 1,284,000

Source: U.S. Labor Department

EMERGENCY COMPENSATION

In November, 1991, Congress adopted a program to provide supplemental assistance for workers who exhausted their 26 weeks of regular unemployment insurance. The program expired this month.

Californians receiving supplemental assistance: 1992: 493,000 1993: 386,000

Source: Labor Department