On Thursday March 24th Oregon Governor John kitzhaber signed two Bills that will extend unemployment benefits to thousands of Oregonians that are still looking for work. One Bill allows unemployed workers to continue drawing on Federally funded extended benefits, which kick in when people exhaust their regular unemployment benefits. They last for up to 20 weeks. State officials estimate the measure will affect 50,000 people through the end of the year.
The other Bill provides an additional six weeks of state-funded unemployment for people who have exhausted all 99 weeks of federal benefits. update 20:46 March 26 2011 On Thursday, March 24, 2011, The Governor signed two bills relating to unemployment insurance benefits:
Senate Bill 637 allows for the continuation of the extended benefits (EB) program. The bill does not add additional weeks to the program; it allows the state to continue paying EB.
Senate Bill 638 allows for Oregon Emergency Benefits, an extension of unemployment insurance benefits for individuals who have exhausted all other extensions.
The first payable week will be the week of April 17-23, 2011. The Oregon Unemployment Department will send notice to all individuals potentially eligible.
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