Illinois Members Release County-By-County Numbers of Those Affected by Not Extending Unemployment Insurance

Washington, DC (December 17, 2013) – Reps. Jan Schakowsky (IL-09), Mike Quigley (IL-05), Bill Foster (IL-11), Brad Schneider (IL-10), Cheri Bustos (IL-17) and Robin Kelly (IL-02) released the following county-by-county numbers of people who would immediately lose all of their unemployment insurance:

On December 28th almost 82,000 people in Illinois are set to lose their unemployment insurance coverage because House Republicans blocked an effort to extend the federal Emergency Unemployment Compensation program into 2014. An additional 89,000 people in Illinois will lose their coverage in the first six months of 2014 if Republicans continue to block an extension of the program.

Failure to extend federal unemployment insurance would hurt job growth throughout the nation, costing the economy 240,000 jobs, according to the White House Council of Economic Advisers. The CEA estimates that in Illinois alone, failing to extend the program will cost 13,345 jobs. The county-by-county breakdown, based on the total number of people in Illinois currently receiving federal unemployment insurance, is below. The information was provided by the Illinois Department of Employment Security.

"Three days after Christmas, 1.3 million people will lose their emergency unemployment benefits," said Rep. Jan Schakowsky. "That is inexcusable and Congress has an obligation to ensure that millions of people can keep their modest benefits. I continue to urge Speaker Boehner to call the House back into session to take a vote on extending these crucial unemployment benefits, which if not extended will harm both families and local economies, and result in the loss of 240,000 more jobs."

"Unemployed Americans shouldn't have to wait around for Congress to do the right thing and protect the most vulnerable among us," said Rep. Mike Quigley. "Failure to extend the federal Emergency Unemployment Compensation program would hurt job growth and devastate recipients in the Chicago area at a time when they need this critical benefit the most."

"I am very disappointed that Congress went home for the year without extending unemployment insurance," said Rep. Bill Foster. "Our economy is still recovering from the worst recession since the Great Depression. Now is not the time to pull this important safety net out from under thousands of Illinois residents who are still searching for employment. "

"It's simply unconscionable to think that, as we head into the holidays and with the economy continuing to slowly recover, Congress would fail to act to extend these critically important emergency unemployment benefits," said Rep. Brad Schneider. "Many of the families in my district and throughout the country continue to struggle and depend on these benefits, which is why I call on all of my colleagues to support an extension as soon as possible."

"With our economy still recovering from the worst recession since the Great Depression, and with far too many families across our region still looking hard for work this holiday season, now is not the time to cut off this important lifeline," said Rep. Cheri Bustos.

"While national unemployment is improving, Illinois' unemployment rate of 8.9% is still well above the national average. Unemployment insurance is a critical lifeline for thousands of Illinois families who are working hard to get back on their feet in this economy," said Rep. Robin Kelly. "Now is not the time to pull the rug out from under these families. We must extend unemployment insurance to give them the support they need to find work as our economy recovers."