In case you missed the news, Florida is now adding an extra $25 to your unemployment benefits this month. You should receive the money by March 31 and then you’ll receive another check for the back-payment of benefits from the end of February.
Interestingly, the extra $25 will come in a separate check. Must be for accounting purposes.
The full release and FAQ is here.
Dateline reporter Chris Hansen recently rode with police officers in various cities who were evicting families during this recession. Check it out here.
Unemployed brothers and sisters,
I know times are tough. Joblessness is a real heart-wrencher. But something occurred to me the other day, while sitting on my porch, drinking coffee, enjoying a perfect 70-degree day of unemployment in Florida:
Really, this is the best time to be unemployed. My evidence: The stimulus package passed last month.
In case you haven’t heard, President Barack Obama’s first success (depending on how you define it) has gobs and gobs of greenbacks for a slew of industries, homeowners and, us, the non-working people.
Of course, our bailout isn’t of banking industry quality, or even GM, but we do get a piece of the action. Specifically, about $25 a week.
Woot!
That’s an extra $100 a month, baby. In addition, many people won’t be taxed for the first $2,400 in benefits they claim. That’s good news for those of us who didn’t have taxes taken out of their unemployment checks. (By the way, this is only for unemployment since the stimulus passed, not the money you’ve received before this.)
But the most beneficial aspect of the plan, especially in this economy, is an extension of benefits. Last year, Congress already approved up to 33 weeks of extended benefits for those workers who exhaust the regular 26 weeks of benefits. That deal was set to expire, but under the stimulus package, laid-off workers can still claim those extra weeks in 2009.
But it gets better: Under the stimulus package, workers in some high unemployment states can claim an extra 13-20 weeks of benefits. Are you keeping track? That’s an estimated 18 months — a year and six months! — of benefits. And, under some economists projections, we should be out of the recession by then.
So, honestly, my fellow men and women on the dole: It could be worse. You could only have 26 weeks to find another shitty job.
UPDATE: Even those of you workers that are forced to take an unpaid “vacation” can also get benefits. That includes all you 5,600 Media General employees.
It’s been nearly two months since my last column ran in Creative Loafing and nothing makes me realize this fact more than missing an amazing cycle of news over the last two months.
A crime wave in St. Petersburg. Early political jockeying in the city’s mayoral race. More criminalizing of the homeless even as more mainstream Americans are closer to poverty than anytime in the last 20 years. Buddy Johnson’s election foibles and a land deal that might have federal implications. Oh, and nobody will forget McNutball for months to come.
On a more personal note, I missed the chance to publicly eulogize Richard Shireman, one-half of St. Petersburg’s Homeless Outreach Team, who died in a car accident on Jan. 9. Whenever anything regarding the homeless went down in Pinellas County, I called Shireman. He was a tireless advocate for a compassionate and common-sense approach to Pinellas County’s homeless problem.
But, as the About Me section of this blog will tell you, I can’t sit back and watch the world pass me by for long. So, I’m doing what millions of other 21st century humans do when they want to their small voice to be heard throughout the world: Start a blog.
“Will Report for Food: Tales of an unemployed journalist” is my newest writing venture, meant to bring some of the same news and commentary that I offered in the pages of Creative Loafing. But unlike the vast sea of navel-gazing blogs out there, I hope to offer readers original news reporting and compelling narratives about notable people, places and events in Tampa Bay. Well, maybe a little navel-gazing, too.
Feel free to comment on the blogs, e-mail me privately or pass along some juicy news tidbits. Mmmmm… juicy news tidbits. And visit here often. In return, I promise to never add those annoying drop-down banner ads the St. Petersburg Times‘ website uses. I fucking hate those.
