Tag Archives: United States

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The Other Washington ~~~


Information about the federal sequester

Updated March 14, 2013

There are two primary questions being asked related to the federal sequester:

  1. Do federally funded employees who are furloughed qualify for unemployment benefits?
  2. Are unemployment benefits affected by the sequester?

Questions about sequester-related furloughs

Q. I’m being put on temporary leave without pay (furloughed). Am I eligible for unemployment benefits for the time I’m off?
A. It depends on how the furlough is implemented. You would have to be unemployed for most or all of a week (Sunday through Saturday) in order to be eligible for benefits – assuming you meet other eligibility requirements. However, if you normally work full-time and your hours are reduced by one work day in a week, you will not be eligible for benefits because you still earn too much in that week to be eligible.
  NOTE: We decide eligibility on a case-by-case basis. Anyone has the right to apply for benefits and claim weekly benefits. When we have all the facts, we will determine eligibility.
Q. Will I get paid for every week I file a claim?
A. The first time you file your weekly claim and are eligible to receive benefits will be considered a “waiting week.” You will not be paid benefits for your waiting week. If you go off and on unemployment benefits more than once during your benefit year, you will not have to serve another waiting week during this unemployment claim.
Q. How much money would I get in unemployment benefits?
A. You can estimate your weekly benefit amount on our website. If you’re furloughed for only part of a week, use the earnings deduction chart to see if the reduction in your gross weekly pay makes you eligible for any benefits.
Q. Do I have to look for work if I am waiting to go back to work with my employer?
A. In general, you are required to look for work unless we tell you otherwise.

Some possible exceptions:

  • If you are temporarily unemployed because of a lack of work, but you expect to return to work with your regular employer, you may qualify for “standby.” You must have a definite or probable return-to-work date within a reasonable amount of time. If we approve you for standby, you do not have to look for work, but you must be available for all hours of work offered by your regular employer. These weeks do not have to be consecutive.
  • If you were hired to work full-time and you are still working each week, but your hours have been temporarily reduced, you may qualify for partial unemployment benefits (see the previous question}. To meet this requirement and to have your work-search waived, your weekly hours may be reduced by no more than 60 percent, and you must return to full-time work within four months.

Questions about the sequester and unemployment benefits

Q. Will unemployment benefits be cut as a result of the sequester?
A. The sequester does not affect “regular” unemployment benefits, which are paid with state funds. Regular unemployment benefits pay up to 26 weeks of benefits.
  However, Emergency Unemployment Compensation (EUC) will be affected.  
  At this time, we are working with the federal Department of Labor to understand how and when the cuts will be applied to the benefits. We will communicate directly with benefit recipients when we have the answers. 
Q. Do you plan to halt EUC benefit payments?
A. We have no intention of stopping payments to EUC claimants.
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Raped and Then Denied the Care They Need ~~~ Not on Our Watch


 

National Women's Law Center
 
 
     
  End the Extreme Policy  
     
   
     
  Tell your Senators to support the Peace Corps Equity Act and end the extreme abortion coverage ban for Peace Corps volunteers in the case of rape, incest and life endangerment.  
     
  Take Action  
     

No woman should ever be denied an abortion, especially in the cases of rape, incest, or when the woman’s life is at risk. Period. And yet extreme policies currently exist that deny certain women coverage for abortion services in these difficult and, sometimes, life-threatening situations.

It’s time to end the unconscionable ban on abortion coverage for Peace Corps volunteers in the cases of rape, incest and life endangerment to the woman. Tell your Senators to support the Peace Corps Equity Act to end this extreme policy.

The Peace Corps is a federal program that sends over 8,000 American volunteers abroad each year to promote world peace and friendship. Women make up more than 60 percent of these volunteers. And though other women who receive health care coverage through the federal government have coverage of abortion in cases of rape, incest, and to protect the life of the woman, Peace Corps volunteers are prohibited from receiving the same coverage as federal employees.

The Peace Corps Equity Act will end this extreme policy by expanding access to reproductive health care in cases of rape, incest and life endangerment. Tell your Senators to support this legislation today.

Just last year, National Women’s Law Center supporters sent over 70,000 messages successfully urging lawmakers to give U.S. military women the same reproductive health coverage as their civilian counterparts. We’ve shown that, together, we can end such unconscionable and harmful policies.

Thank you for everything you do to protect women’s reproductive health.

Sincerely,
 
Judy Waxman   Judy Waxman
Vice President for Health and Reproductive Rights
National Women’s Law Center 		 

P.S. Your support allows us to continue to fight for women’s health, as well as work on many other critical issues. Please consider making a generous donation today.
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Building the climate movement


During the past couple of weeks, over a billion people in 192 countries took action for Earth Day, and many people like you helped build an impressive digital mosaic capturing The Face of Climate Change.  

 

People organized rallies, demonstrations, clean-ups, tree plantings, educational events, andmore to protect their local environment and to raise the profile of the most pressing environmental issue of our time:climate change. Countless others made personal commitments to live more sustainably.

In fact, The Face of Climate Change has received such a strong response that we’re going to continue the campaign!

Your actions and stories have the power to inspire the world and are essential to building this new climate movement; keep them coming! They’ll serve as an interactive and personalized petition to world leaders as Earth Day Network and our partners push for strong international and domestic climate policies.

The Face of Climate Change again proves that a lot of little actions add up to something big. Join the movement – and bring your friends! Together, we’ll make a difference in 2013 and beyond.

                    –  The Earth Day Network Team

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6 Ways to Boost the Middle Class

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By ThinkProgress War Room

Pro-Middle Class Policies That Won’t Cost the Government Anything

In this era of painful spending cuts, it often feels like there’s little political space to get much done to help the middle class — or anyone else. Fortunately, that doesn’t have to be the case. Our Center for American Progress colleagues put together six pro-middle class policies that won’t cost the government anything.

Here’s the short version and a few charts:

  • Increase the Minimum Wage

Since 1968 the inflation-adjusted value of the minimum wage has declined by 31 percent.The minimum wage would be more than $10.50 per hour today if it had kept up with inflation. This decrease has occurred even as workers have become more productive. Over the same period of time, productivity—the measure of output per hour of work—increased by 124 percent.

  • Make Saving for Retirement Easier, Cheaper and More Secure

An increasing number of households are at risk of seeing their standard of living decline in retirement due to a lack of sufficient retirement savings.

In order to help the middle class retire with dignity, we need to expand retirement coverage and improve the quality of retirement plans available. We can achieve these goals and improve the current retirement system by creating a new hybrid retirement plan type—the Secure, Accessible, Flexible, and Efficient Retirement Plan, or SAFE Retirement Plan, a hybrid between a traditional pension and a 401(k) plan—and opening the federal Thrift Savings Plan, the 401(k) for federal employees, to the public.

  • Lower Monthly Housing Costs by Providing Homeowners with Principal Foregiveness

Although housing markets are beginning to recover from the collapse of the housing bubble, more than one in five homeowners are still “underwater” on their loans, meaning that they owe more on their mortgages than their loans are worth. Not only does this threaten individual homeowners, but the more than $600 billion in negative equity also significantly hampers economic recovery.

Paid sick days should be available to all U.S. workers. Implementing this policy would provide greater job security to millions of Americans, reduce worker turnover, and ultimately strengthen the middle class.

There are currently no federal laws guaranteeing workers the right to earn paid sick days. Nearly 40 percent of workers in middle-income families and more than 55 percent of workers in low-income families do not have access to paid sick days. Twenty-three percent of adults report either being threatened with losing a job or being fired for taking time off when they or a family member have been sick.

  • Make Sure That Workers Who Want to Form a Union Can Do So

Unions help strengthen the middle class by enabling workers to negotiate for fair wages and benefits and helping ordinary citizens get involved in the political process.

But as unions became weaker over the past four decades—due in part to an unfair union election process—they became less able to perform these functions. The middle class has withered as a result, with the share of income going to the middle class falling alongside the percentage of workers in unions. (see Figure 5)

  • Require Colleges to Provide Consumer Information Via College Scorecards

Two-thirds of students with four-year bachelor’s degrees finish their studies with student-loan debt, and the average amount of debt per student is nearly $25,000. (see Figure 6) Yet average debt loads at schools can range from $950 or less to $55,250, and graduation rates range from0 percent to 91 percent. Many students, however, are unaware of these differences.

The federal government should require colleges and universities to do a better job of providing pertinent information to prospective students concerning their likelihood of graduating, finding employment, and paying off student debt. Schools should be required to direct students to this information on all promotional materials to allow students to easily compare schools.

For all of the wonky details, check out the full report HERE.

BOTTOM LINE: Instead of continuing the painful austerity spending cuts we’re currently living under, we can and should make needed investments in the middle class, such as expanding access to preschool and child care, as part of a package that reduces the deficit over the longer term. And there’s also no reason not to immediately put in place a set of pro-middle class, pro-growth policies that won’t require any additional federal spending.