Representatives Barbara Lee (D-Ca.) and Bobby Scott (D-Va.), along with the American 99ers Union, will be holding a press conference tomorrow to announce their re-introduction of the Emergency Unemployment Compensation Expansion Act bill in the U.S. House of Representatives. The bill would retroactively add 14 additional weeks to the Tier 1 (20 week) federal unemployment extension, and the 99ers will finally receive some much needed relief if it is passed.
"Our bill would add 14 weeks of emergency unemployment benefits and would make sure these benefits are retroactively available to people who have exhausted all their benefits and are still unemployed", said Representative Lee about the bill.
However, despite previous reports, Lee's office has stated that they don't have a plan to pay for the additional unemployment extension. This means that, unless Lee and Scott come up with a way to offset the cost of the proposed extension by tomorrow, the bill isn't expected to get very far in the Republican controlled House.
Regardless, the 99ers must take this opportunity to show their numbers, and be heard. We need to call, email, and fax our "representatives" non-stop for the next 24 hours. Faxes are the most effective, then phone calls, and then emails. Be sure to contact their home offices as well as their offices in Washington. We have to flood them with our message, and let them know that the 99ers aren't backing down, and will not be forgotten. America's 99ers need this unemployment extension, and they need it now!