skip to main content
skip to newscasts

Thursday, March 28, 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 Myorkas.

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.

NC Lawmakers Consider Cuts to Unemployment Benefits

play audio
Play

Tuesday, November 27, 2012   

RALEIGH, N.C. - Bridgette Burge is one of the more than 430,000 unemployed people in North Carolina. With a masters' degree and ten years of experience in the nonprofit sector, Burge says she's frustrated with attempts by some members of the State Assembly to cut unemployment benefits.

They're doing so in an effort to overcome a shortfall in the state's unemployment insurance fund, which is complicated by the increased number of jobless people.

"People are in such dire straits right now, and it feels to me like being kicked when I'm down. I've done everything right. It's just devastating."

On December 5, members of the legislature's Revenue Laws Committee will vote on some of the most drastic cuts to unemployment benefits being considered in the nation. It would reduce the maximum weekly unemployment benefit from $506 to $350. Workers would also only be covered for 20 weeks instead of 26.

The U.S. Department of Labor reports there are three unemployed people in North Carolina for every eligible job in the state. Harry Payne, senior counsel for policy and law with the North Carolina Justice Center, and a former head of the state's Employment Security Commission, doesn't like the legislature's approach.

"These people are the biggest victims of the economy, and the very thought that the victims of the economy should pay its costs doesn't work."

According to the U.S. Census Bureau's American Community Survey, unemployment benefits kept more than 3 million Americans out of poverty in 2010.



get more stories like this via email

more stories
A report from the Tennessee HealthCare Campaign recommended the federal government needs to strengthen 340B drug pricing and other federal negotiation mechanisms to make needed medicines more readily available and less expensive for hospitals to purchase and administer. (Spotmatikphoto/AdobeStock)

Health and Wellness

play sound

A recent report examined how some rural Tennessee hospitals have managed to stay afloat despite financial challenges. The report includes interviews …


Social Issues

play sound

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

Health and Wellness

play sound

Medicare and Medicaid are key sources of health coverage for many Americans and some people qualify for assistance under both programs. With lagging …


Organizations fighting wage theft said it harms affected workers and surrounding communities because the money withheld is not being circulated through the local economy. (Adobe Stock)

Social Issues

play sound

A mix of policy updates and staffing boosts has helped to put wage theft enforcement on the radar in Minnesota, and officials leading the efforts are …

Social Issues

play sound

New research shows more than six in 10 abortions in the U.S. last year were medically induced, and U.S. Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto - D-NV - is …

Social Issues

play sound

Missouri lawmakers are concerned with protecting people from the potential risks of the increasing accessibility of AI-generated images and videos…

Environment

play sound

A farm group is helping Iowa agriculture producers find ways to reduce the amount of nitrogen they use on their crops. Excess nitrates can wind up …

 

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