PRINTER'S NO. 1498
No. 219 Session of 2004
INTRODUCED BY TARTAGLIONE, KITCHEN, LOGAN, HUGHES, STOUT, COSTA,
WAGNER, KUKOVICH, MUSTO, O'PAKE, ORIE, FERLO, KASUNIC, STACK,
BOSCOLA, C. WILLIAMS, LAVALLE, FUMO, RAFFERTY, WOZNIAK,
MELLOW, TOMLINSON AND SCHWARTZ, MARCH 30, 2004
REFERRED TO LABOR AND INDUSTRY, MARCH 30, 2004
A RESOLUTION
1 Memorializing the Congress of the United States to extend and
2 make retroactive the Federal Temporary Extended Unemployment
3 Compensation (TEUC) program.
4 WHEREAS, Over the past few years the national economy has
5 struggled unsuccessfully to rebound from the recession, and a
6 strong and sustainable recovery remains elusive; and
7 WHEREAS, Twenty-two percent of the nation's unemployed have
8 been out of work for more than six months; and
9 WHEREAS, In November 2003, long-term joblessness reached a
10 20-year high; and
11 WHEREAS, The average duration for unemployment in January
12 increased to 19.8 weeks, and for 16 consecutive months the long-
13 term unemployment rate has exceeded 20 weeks; and
14 WHEREAS, In January 2004, the nation's unemployment rate
15 remained at 5.6% and the Pennsylvania unemployment rate was
16 5.3%; and
17 WHEREAS, The President and Congress originally approved TEUC
1 compensation to provide assistance to unemployed workers who
2 were unable to find jobs before exhausting their regular
3 benefits and to stimulate the economy by injecting dollars
4 directly into local communities; and
5 WHEREAS, According to the United States Department of
6 Labor's Bureau of Labor Statistics, between January of 2001 and
7 December of 2003, the loss of private sector jobs stood at 2.9
8 million nationally and totaled 220,000 in the Commonwealth of
9 Pennsylvania; and
10 WHEREAS, Across the nation more than 1 million unemployed
11 workers are expected to exhaust their regular benefits in the
12 first quarter of 2004; and
13 WHEREAS, Job growth in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania has
14 trailed working-age population growth by three percentage points
15 since the start of the recession in March of 2001 and the
16 prospects for employment of long-term unemployed individuals
17 remain bleak; and
18 WHEREAS, Employers in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania will
19 benefit from increased consumer demand pumped into the
20 Commonwealth economy by unemployed workers if TEUC benefits are
21 extended; therefore be it
22 RESOLVED, That the Senate of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania
23 memorialize the President and Congress of the United States to
24 extend and make retroactive the Federal TEUC program; and be it
25 further
26 RESOLVED, That copies of this resolution be transmitted to
27 the President of the United States, George W. Bush, and to the
28 presiding officers of each house of Congress and to each member
29 of Congress from Pennsylvania.
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