There's talk on the federal level of helping with the unemployment crisis in northern Michigan.
A viewer emailed us asking for a Fact Finder on plans to extend unemployment benefits, here are the answers:
We talked with a representative from Michigan Works and she says right now, for the most part, unemployment benefits last between 14 and 26 weeks and the amount is based on your previous salary, length of employment and number of dependants and there is a maximum weekly amount of $362. A spokesperson from the Department for Labor and Economic Growth says in July, there was a federal extension put into place that would extend unemployment benefits up to 13 weeks, that is set to expire in March of 2009. Meanwhile Senator Stabenow is also working on an unemployment extension plan for hardest hit states including Michigan which would add another 20 weeks of benefits. Any benefit extensions as part of the federal bailout plant are still in the planning stages. Next week lawmakers will be discussing several economic stimulus issues, including more possible unemployment extensions. We'll continue to follow this story and update you as things progress. In the meantime you can email any questions to newsroom@tv7-4.com
To read more Fact Finder Reports click here
