Up to 5,000 Idaho workers may be eligible for extended unemployment benefits, and 15,000 more could become eligible over the next 12 months, under federal legislation that President George W. Bush signed June 30. The benefit extension, included in the supplemental budget for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, comes in response to the dramatic slowdown in the economy across the nation, the Idaho Department of Labor said in a release.
Unemployment insurance claimants who exhausted their regular state benefits on or after May 1, 2007, are eligible for extended benefits equal to 50 percent of the payments they previously received if they have not found new jobs in the meantime.
To collect extended benefits, claimants must meet the work availability and work search requirements necessary to collect regular benefits. Extended benefits will be available through the week that begins Monday, June 29, 2009 to any claimant who has exhausted regular unemployment benefits
“These benefits will help workers who qualify make ends meet while they continue to look for new jobs so it’s important that as many of them as possible take advantage of this help, especially in a slowing economy,” Rogelio “Roy” Valdez, deputy director for field services for the Idaho Department of Labor, said in a release.
Potentially eligible workers will be contacted by mail by the Idaho Department of Labor.
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