Georgia and Florida cut the duration of unemployment benefits

Georgia is vying with Florida for the title of stingiest state, when it comes to jobless residents. The Republican-controlled State Legislature passed a bill last week to cut the duration of unemployment benefits from a current maximum of 26 weeks to a range from 14 weeks to 20 weeks, depending on the state unemployment rate. Florida cut its 26-week maximum last year, to a range of 12 weeks to 23 weeks.

Georgia’s cutback, which Gov. Nathan Deal, a Republican, is expected to sign, will bring to 11 the number of states that have cut jobless benefits in the past year by reducing the duration or level of payouts or by restricting eligibility. For more than 40 years previously, all states had provided 26 weeks of benefits. Federal benefits will still start when state benefits end. But they are calculated as a percentage of state benefits, so cutting the number of state weeks cuts the number of federal weeks. In the aftermath of the Great Recession, more than 30 states have had to borrow from the federal government to meet their obligations to jobless residents. But that is only partly because of the recession. It is also the result of excessive tax cuts for business — no stinginess there — in the years before the downturn, which deprived many states of revenue to build up their unemployment reserves…

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Read More @ Another Hole in the Safety Net for the Jobless – NYTimes.com.