Obama Proposes Retool Of Unemployment Insurance

Obama Proposes Retool Of Unemployment Insurance Benefits

The president's insurance plan would replace half of a worker's lost wages for up to $10,000 over two years.

Days after announcing major overhauls to unemployment benefits in his State of the Union address, President Barack Obama revealed details of the plan in his weekly radio address.

Politico reports that under the plan, announced Saturday, “workers laid off from a job they held at least three years would be eligible for state-based wage insurance if their new job paid less than the old one and no more than $50,000.”

From Politico:

The insurance payment would replace half the lost wages, the White House said, up to $10,000 over two years.

The president also proposed requiring states to provide no fewer than 26 weeks’ unemployment insurance benefits; extending those 26 weeks to a federally-funded 52 in states “experiencing rapid job losses or high unemployment”

Obama said the nation shouldn’t just ensure that workers can obtain unemployment insurance, the program should also encourage them to seek retraining for jobs in the new economy.

Read the White House unemployment insurance fact sheet here.

SOURCE: Politico, White House | PHOTO CREDIT: Getty | VIDEO CREDIT: Inform

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