The Ohio unemployment rate has reached a level of 10.8% as of August, 2009. Legislation recently passed by the house (Sept 22) called Bill H3548 will allow any states with a total unemployment rate (TUR) of 8.5% or higher to be eligible for federal funding which will allow 13 more weeks of extended unemployment benefits for those people who have exhausted all the current benefits.
This move was made as part of the stimulus package for 2009 effort which is designed to help the economy recover as quickly as possible and for unemployed people to be able to keep paying the bills while they look for work.
Is this extension law yet?
Not as of Sept 23. The senate still has to approve the bill and it is unclear how long it will take. It is anticipated that the bill will pass Senate but it’s possible that changes will be made first.
Keep in mind that the previous extension (Extended Benefits) required state law changes since EB is a joint federal and state program. EB required a change in federal law and then required state laws to be amended. The legislation that recently passed the House (H3548) is an extension of Emergency Unemployment Compensation (EUC). This does not require state law changes so it won’t require the state legislature to change state law. This means that it should take less time to get this extension than the previous one.
How much unemployment benefits are available now?
Currently somone in Ohio might be eligible for the following:
- 26 weeks of normal employment benefits
- 20 weeks of Tier 1 EB
- 13 weeks of Tier 2 EB
- 13 weeks because of Bill H3548 (not finalized yet).
How much are the unemployment benefits?
In Ohio the maximum benefits are $503 per week and the minimum is $105 per week. There is also an additional $25 per week available because of the 2009 stimulus package.
Unemployment benefit information for other states
Florida unemployment benefits extension - 20 more weeks.
Will New York add 13 more weeks of unemployment benefits?
New York extends unemployment benefits by 13 weeks
Will Tennessee add 20 weeks of unemployment benefit extension?
Ohio unemployment benefits extension - 13 more weeks
Texas Unemployment Benefits Extension - 13 more weeks
Unemployment benefits extended in 2009 stimulus package.
Bill H3548 - 13 week extension for high unemployment states.
Kentucky Unemployment Benefits Extension - 20 more weeks.
Illinois Unemployment Benefits Extension - 20 more weeks.
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Hey Tracy, just wanted to update you and let you know what’s going on. I called them today, and the lady said “yeah, the system has been flagging benefit year end incorrectly, but it’s a simple fix” and then she “unflagged” it and said payments should retroactively start flowing within 24 hours. Hopefully if you call, the fix should be just as easy. Good luck! =)
P.S. On a side note, the wait time was nearly 2 hours. They are getting LOTS of calls today from people trying to file now that the extension passed.
Irene”
Go to this link”
Seems we have a few people that still care about us 99ers”
There are several different articles on this link”
Be sure to check all of them out”
http://all247news.com/
Po Boy,Thank you so much for the info. It at least gives a little hope. Hope all goes well for you too. Irene
You are welcome Irene”
This was quite a surprise to find it even being talked about”.
All we can do is keep our fingers crossed I guess”.
Should I find anything else I will surely pass it along”.
May God Bless all of us 99ers.
As we did not do this to ourselves”.
Mike, now I see “pay held.” I guess it is because I didn’t file and more than 21 days lapsed. I filled out a few questions online and submitted it. Has anyone else made the mistake of not filing their weeks in time? Thanks.
@Tracy
My wife had the same issue as you described. She called in her claim and talked to someone who keyed it in for her. Only in her case they marked Yes to Refused, Quit and Discharged from work. After we got a notice of eligibility notice we immediately called. They admitted it was their mistake, but told us we have to wait for them to review and fix the issue. In the mean time my wife’s retroactive pay is being held and we like many others are waiting on this money to keep from having utilities disconnected. Frustrating that the people at the unemployment office do not pay attention to what they are keying in.
Hey Mike…….did you hear anything more about your eligibility issue?
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