skip to main content
skip to newscasts

Friday, March 29, 2024

Public News Service Logo
facebook instagram linkedin reddit youtube twitter
view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

The latest on the Key Bridge collapse, New York puts forth legislation to get clean energy projects on the grid and Wisconsin and other states join a federal summer food program to help feed kids across the country.

view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

Republicans float conspiracy theories on the collapse of Baltimore's Key Bridge, South Carolina's congressional elections will use a map ruled unconstitutional, and the Senate schedules an impeachment trial for Homeland Secretary Mayorkas.

view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

Historic wildfires could create housing and health issues for rural Texans, a Kentucky program helps prison parolees start a new life, and descendants of Nicodemus, Kansas celebrate the Black settlers who journeyed across the 1870s plains seeking self-governance.

Economists Urge Extension of Fed Unemployment Boost

play audio
Play

Monday, August 3, 2020   

LINCOLN, Neb. - If Congress does not extend enhanced unemployment benefits - the $600 per week meant to help Americans who lost jobs due to the novel coronavirus pandemic's economic fallout - more than five million jobs would be lost, including more than 1,500 in Nebraska.

Heidi Shierholz, senior economist with the Economic Policy Institute, said the benefit has helped millions pay for food, rent and other essentials. She said cutting off assistance will also make racial inequality worse.

"Because Black and Brown communities are suffering more from this pandemic, both physically and economically," said Shierholz, "as a result of historic and continuing systemic racism."

Workers of color who file for unemployment are much more likely to have their claims rejected, according to analysis by the Bipartisan Policy Center. White workers have received 78% of all unemployment dollars, compared with 20% for Black and Latino workers.

Critics of extending benefits have said they believe it's a disincentive to work, and have noted some workers get more in unemployment than they did on the job.

A new Yale University study found that lack of child care and the risk of contracting COVID-19, not unemployment benefits, were primary factors preventing people from returning to work.

Shierholz said with unemployment at historic levels, now is not the time to cut off assistance to families.

"Right now there are 14 million more unemployed workers than there are job openings," said Shierholz. "So millions will remain jobless no matter what they do. You cannot incentivize people to get jobs that aren't there."

Nearly 30 million Americans currently are receiving unemployment insurance. The previous high, during the Great Recession, was roughly 12 million.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has scheduled a debate this week on federal unemployment benefits that expired Saturday.


get more stories like this via email

more stories
The U.S. Supreme Court heard arguments this week about the popular abortion pill Mifepristone and will weigh in on whether the U.S. Food and Drug Administration was correct in how it can be dosed and prescribed. (Ascannio/Adobe Stock)

Health and Wellness

play sound

Missouri residents are worried about future access to birth control. The latest survey from The Right Time, an initiative based in Missouri…


Social Issues

play sound

Wisconsin children from low-income families are now on track to get nutritious foods over the summer. Federal officials have approved the Badger …

Social Issues

play sound

Almost 2,900 people are unsheltered on any given night in the Beehive State. Gov. Spencer Cox is celebrating signing nine bills he says are geared …


The U.S. teaching workforce remains primarily white while the percentage of Black teachers has declined. However, the percentage of Asian and Latinx teachers is rising.(WavebreakMediaMicro/Adobestock)

Social Issues

play sound

Education advocates are calling on lawmakers to increase funding for programs to combat the teacher shortage. Around 37% of schools nationwide …

Environment

play sound

New York's Legislature is considering a bill to get clean-energy projects connected to the grid faster. It's called the RAPID Act, for "Renewable …

Social Issues

play sound

Earlier this month, a new Arizona Public Service rate hike went into effect and one senior advocacy group said those on a fixed income may struggle …

Social Issues

play sound

Michigan recently implemented a significant juvenile justice reform package following recommendations from a task force made up of prosecutors…

 

Phone: 303.448.9105 Toll Free: 888.891.9416 Fax: 208.247.1830 Your trusted member- and audience-supported news source since 1996 Copyright © 2021