U.S. Senator Tammy Baldwin (D-WI)

U.S. Senator Tammy Baldwin (D-WI)

A bill extending emergency unemployment compensation awaits consideration in the U.S. House of Representatives. The Senate sent a five-month extension of unemployment insurance benefits to the House last week. It’s a worthwhile investment, in the view of Wisconsin Senator Tammy Baldwin, a Democrat.

“These are not only investments for the families that are affected by long term unemployment, they’re investments in community,” Baldwin said. “If you think about it, nobody who’s getting unemployment benefits is putting that in their savings account. They have no other income.”

The bill appears to face an uncertain future at best in the Republican controlled House, where Speaker John Boehner has said it’s up to the White House to figure out how to pay for it. Baldwin said the bill is needed in part because of the feeble recovery. “There are people working really hard to find work, really hard, and no matter what they do they won’t be able to secure it, because we’re lagging behind in terms of jobs.”

It’s unlikely that the House will address the issue until Congress returns from its two-week Easter recess on April 28. If the House changed the Senate bill, the Senate would have to vote on it again.

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