Tens of thousands of New Yorkers are being cheated out of extra unemployment checks under the jobless-benefits extension moving through Congress, state officials charged yesterday.
The $34 billion bill doles out 99 weeks of benefits to states with unemployment rates above 8.5 percent, but gives just 93 weeks to the rest — including New York, where the latest three-month average is 8.3 percent.
“This action by the feds will impact 90,000 New Yorkers by the end of the year who would otherwise have gotten 99 weeks,” said state Department of Labor spokesman Leo Rosales.
The bill passed the Senate last night by a vote of 59-39. It now heads to the House for a vote this week and will be sent to President Obama for his signature next week.
The last time Congress approved extended unemployment benefits, in March, New Yorkers qualified for the full 99 weeks. The state’s unemployment rate since then has dropped slightly — enough to lose the extra six weeks of aid.
State unemployment had hit a high of 8.8 percent in February.
The only New Yorkers who will still qualify for the full 99 weeks are those who use up all of the 93 weeks before Aug. 15. They’ll get another six weeks.
Obama and congressional Democrats, desperate to show voters they are tackling the country’s stubborn 9.5 percent unemployment rate, battled Republicans for weeks to reinstate the extra benefits that expired June 2.
The latest extension keeps the program going until after the elections in November.
The unemployed usually get just 26 weeks of state unemployment checks.
The bill would restore the 93 or 99 weeks of benefits to about 2.5 million unemployed Americans, including nearly 200,000 New Yorkers.
Senate Democrats on Tuesday broke a Republican filibuster to clear the way for passage. The GOP had enforced rules that stalled the vote until after 30 hours of debate.
“Perhaps the overwhelming majority of Republicans think that since they’ve turned their backs on the unemployed for so many months, what’s another few days?” Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) said.
Republicans, who have made campaign issues out of high spending and the $13 trillion federal debt, delayed the bill for weeks with demands it be offset by spending cuts.
“It’s easy to spend money you don’t have in the Senate,” Sen. Tom Coburn (R-Okla.) said. “The hardest thing is to pay and do the best, right thing.”