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September 3, 2012

Fewer checks headed into hands of unemployed

New regulations reduce time people can receive benefits

Arthur Foulkes The Tribune-Star

TERRE HAUTE — Hoosiers will be receiving fewer unemployment checks in the near future thanks to new federal rules taking effect this Labor Day weekend.

Before Sunday, the maximum number of weeks someone in Indiana could receive unemployment benefits was 73. Now, thanks to new federal legislation, that number is 63 weeks.

Joe Frank, a spokesman for the Indiana Department of Workforce Development, said the formula gets complicated, but, basically, beginning Sunday, anyone who wasn’t already receiving extended benefits will see a reduction of 10 weeks worth of unemployment benefit checks.

For those already receiving federally extended benefits by Sunday, the decline will be four weeks, he said.

Indiana provides up to 26 weeks of unemployment insurance payments. However, beginning with the recession that started four years ago, the federal government began providing extended weekly checks – up to 99 weeks in some states.

But in February, when Congress renewed unemployment benefit extensions, the new law also included reductions in the number of weekly payments. Those reductions become larger as a state’s unemployment picture improves.

Statewide there are about 81,000 people drawing unemployment benefits, Frank said. About 73,000 of them will see a cut in the number of checks they receive due to the recent change in federal law.

Figures for Vigo County were not yet available, he said.

There have been positive signs in the state’s jobless picture. Indiana private sector jobs increased by about 60,000 in the past year, and public sector jobs increased by 2,000, Frank said.

Still, the new federal rules come at a time when thousands of Vigo County residents are in great need, said Rose Aycock, executive director of Covenant Cooperative Ministry, which feeds about 2,000 people monthly at its Terre Haute food pantry.

“It’s a crisis from every angle,” Aycock said. “Jobs are scarce here in Vigo County – everywhere, but especially here in Vigo County.”

According to state figures, Vigo County’s unemployment rate was 9.7 percent in May. That was an  improvement over the 10.3 percent figure from one year earlier, but still above the state and national averages.

“I think it’s a budget issue for the government,” Aycock said of the reduction in weekly benefits. “I understand, but charities are going to be hit pretty hard, especially as food prices rise” because of the recent drought, she said.

Many of the people assisted by Covenant Ministry are unemployed and having difficulty finding work, Aycock said. About 30 percent of those helped at the food pantry have recently lost their jobs, she said.

Unemployment benefits in Indiana pay a person approximately 47 percent of what he or she earned the year before unemployment. With typical monthly rents running at least $600 and food prices rising, that 47 percent doesn’t go very far, Aycock said.

“There are a lot of people suffering,” Aycock said. “And it isn’t just from lack of food.”

Reporter Arthur Foulkes can be reached at (812) 231-4232 or arthur.foulkes@tribstar.com.

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