Michigan Governor Rick Snyder Signs Unemployment Bill

Gov. Rick Snyder   (WJBK | myFOXDetroit.com)

Updated: Tuesday, 29 Mar 2011, 7:52 PM EDT
Published : Monday, 28 Mar 2011, 10:36 AM EDT

By myFOXDetroit.com Staff

(WJBK) - Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder has signed a bill that temporarily continues federal jobless benefits while cutting six weeks of state-level unemployment benefits for new filers starting in 2012.

The measure reduces state jobless benefits from 26 weeks to 20 weeks as of January.

It also allows up to 150,000 Michigan residents to continue receiving extended federal unemployment benefits they otherwise would lose by year's end.

Michigan's two Democratic U.S. senators and six Democratic congressmen sent a letter to the Republican governor Monday asking him to veto the bill because it permanently reduces Michigan's benefits below other states.

Snyder says in a statement he signed it Monday because he didn't want 35,000 jobless workers to abruptly lose their unemployment checks as they would have if the measure wasn't signed by Friday.

Statement from Sander Levin in response to the signing of the bill:

(Washington D.C.) – U.S. Rep. Sander Levin (D-MI) today criticized Gov. Rick Snyder’s signing of a bill that will permanently cut Michigan unemployment insurance from 26 weeks to 20 weeks, giving Michigan the dubious distinction of being the ONLY state in the country that provides fewer than 26 weeks of UI benefits. Snyder, in a news release this morning announcing that he signed HB 4408, failed to even mention the reckless change in the legislation. Instead, he focused on the technical change that could have easily been made without Republicans having to make a permanent cut to unemployment insurance.

“Gov. Snyder’s decision to sign this reckless measure cutting the lifeline for Michigan’s unemployed will reverberate for years in Michigan. In signing this bill, the governor has tried to distract Michiganders from the full story, seeking to portray legislation that includes a drastic and permanent cut as a ‘protection’ for the unemployed. Republicans hijacked a simple technical change to extend 100 percent federally funded benefits this year and gave Michigan the dubious distinction of becoming the only state in the union with 20 weeks of state unemployment insurance. This would affect hundreds and hundreds of thousands of Michiganders in the future.”