For Immediate Release:	Contact: Beth Martino
September 24 , 2009	785.296.0901

News Conference – Extended Benefits
Sept. 24, 2009
NASWA Conference, New York

Secretary Jim Garner Remarks

• Good afternoon. My name is Jim Garner and I’m the Secretary of the Kansas Department of Labor.
  
  
• I want to share that I am encouraged by recent predictions that the recession is ending and that the recovery has begun. However, we know that the labor market and job numbers are typically the caboose of the recovery train – showing signs of recovery many months after other economic indicators.
  
  
• For that reason, we must ensure that unemployed individuals continue to receive the assistance they need while we wait for recovery in the labor market.  In Kansas, just more than 3,000 individuals are expected to exhaust all available benefits within two months, so I would encourage the U.S. Senate to follow the lead of the House of Representatives and act quickly to extend benefits for the unemployed.  The need is real and urgent – even in states with unemployment rates below the 8.5 percent threshold set by the House. I would ask the Senate, in their deliberations, to consider lifting that artificial threshold.
  
  
• I believe it is equally important that Congress act to extend the provisions of the Recovery Act related to unemployment benefits. Specifically:
• Extending the deadline to apply for Emergency Unemployment Compensation;
• Continuing full federal funding for State Extended benefits, and
• Extending the deferral of interest payments on funds borrowed from the U.S. Treasury to meet unemployment benefit payments.
  
  
• In Kansas alone, we’ve paid out more than $128 million in EUC benefits since April 1 – benefits individuals would not have been eligible for without the program extension provided in the Recovery Act. These funds are important to those who are suffering most from this recession, but also to our state as it puts millions of dollars back into our economy.
  
  
• And with 20 states having depleted their UI Trust Funds, and with more expected to borrow federal funds in coming months to pay unemployment benefits, it is critically important that the deferred interest provision of the Recovery Act be extended. Without an extension, a new burden will be placed on employers and businesses at an already difficult time. Employers will be called upon to bear the cost of rebuilding the trust funds and meeting any interest payments.
  
  
• I am hopeful Congress will act soon to ensure these important benefits and laws are continued.
  
  

Kansas Department of Labor News Room

Kansas Department of Labor News Room Archive

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For media information contact:

Kathy Toelkes
Director of Marketing & Communications
Kansas Department of Labor
Phone: 785.296.0901
e-mail