Clark Pushing for Unemployment Extension; Block Costing Massachusetts Economy $100 Million

Massachusetts Congresswoman Katherine Clark, who represents Framingham, is pushing for a mandatory vote on the extension of long term unemployment insurance. 

Clark joined other Democrats in signing a discharge petition that would force Speaker of the House John Boehner (R-Ohio) to allow a vote on a measure to renew the program that expired on Dec. 28, 2013. 

Reports show an estimated 72,000 Americans are losing their unemployment benefits each week. 

This number includes the 79,777 displaced workers in Massachusetts who have already been turned away from the critical safety net that unemployment insurance provides. 

“Nearly three months have gone by since House Republicans allowed tens of thousands of Massachusetts families in financial crisis to be cut off from a vital lifeline,” said Clark in a press release. “While displaced workers are struggling to put food on the table, Speaker Boehner and the out of touch Majority have put forward no plans to create jobs, grow the economy or ensure that families are healthy and successful. We need to act now.”

Recent Democratic Ways and Means Committee reports show the Dec. 28 expiration of the federal program has blocked more than a $100 million from the Massachusetts economy.