BENEFIT-EXTENSION BILL ADVANCES

                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: FRIDAY, January 31, 1992                   TAG: 9201310196
SECTION: BUSINESS                    PAGE: A-7   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: WASHINGTON                                LENGTH: Medium
BENEFIT-EXTENSION BILL ADVANCES
A bill providing an additional 13 weeks of emergency benefits to the unemployed won unanimous approval in a Senate committee Thursday, as the government reported the ranks of the jobless grew again in mid-January.
With the White House and Congress in apparent agreement, the Senate Finance Committee quickly approved the latest jobless compensation benefit extension, which carries a $2.7 billion cost. Sponsors said they hoped the Senate could vote as early as Tuesday.
It would extend to July 4 the emergency benefit program approved by Congress last year. Without the legislation, benefits would begin to run out in mid-February for more than 600,000 workers.
"These benefits represent a sorely needed helping hand as the economy continues to flounder," said Sen. Lloyd Bentsen, D-Texas, chairman of the panel.
"And because it is a lagging indicator, we can expect continued high unemployment for a while after the economy starts bouncing back," he said.
The panel acted just two days after President Bush called for another extension in jobless benefits in his State of the Union speech, and after congressional sentiment coalesced around another extension.
The House Ways and Means committee has approved a similar bill. Bush said in a letter to Bentsen that he hoped to have the bill on his desk by Feb. 7.
Bush vetoed jobless benefit extensions last year before relenting and signing a bill in the face of overwhelming congressional support.
The bill heading for a Senate vote would make the additional benefits available for all states. Workers in all states would be eligible for up to 52 weeks of benefits, and a maximum of 59 weeks in states hardest hit by unemployment. They are defined as having a jobless rate of at least 9 percent or an adjusted insured unemployment rate of at least 5 percent.
The $2.7 billion cost in fiscal 1992 is to be offset with a half-billion dollars resulting from changes in the way corporations pay estimated taxes and $2.2 billion that the White House estimates was saved by legislation enacted last year.

by Archana Subramaniam by CNB