The U.S. Senate could vote again
as early as this week on a reworked proposal to reinstate the long-term
unemployment benefits that expired at the close of 2013 for about a million
Americans, including an estimated 6,900 West Virginians .
If the bill makes it to the U.S.
House, First District Congressman David McKinley (R-WV) said he will support
it, as long as it comes with a way to pay for it.
“As a matter of policy, I’m okay
with extending it, if it’s paid for,” said McKinley. “You just can’t keep
passing this obligation on to our future generations so that they have to pay
for this.”
Last week, the full Senate approved
a procedural move to allow for debate on the extension.
Then, answering objections
from Republicans, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) replaced the
original version of the extension bill, a three-month, $6 billion extension
with no funding source, with a ten-month extension that would be fully funded.
However, the bill’s movement
stalled when Reid said Republicans would not be allowed to offer amendments to
the legislation.
McKinley said a lot of people
depended on the unemployment payments they’re no longer receiving.
“It’s not all their fault (they’re
unemployed). The economy is very soft because of the lack of regulatory
reform. The tax structure is broken. There are a series of things
that these people are victims of as a result of this economy and this
administration,” he said.
House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH)
has indicated opposition to the extension that expired at the end of last
year. It provided a maximum of 47 weeks of emergency
unemployment compensation (EUC) once an unemployed worker had reached the
limits of state-funded benefits. In West Virginia
The extended benefits were first implemented in
2008 following the recession.
