Florida to cut state unemployment benefits

[Judi Lynn]

Source: CNN

Florida to cut state unemployment benefits
By Tami Luhby, senior writer @CNNMoney
May 10, 2011: 5:24 AM ET

NEW YORK (CNNMoney) -- Florida residents would no longer get up to 26 weeks of state unemployment benefits come 2012, under a bill state lawmakers approved late last week.

The number of weeks the jobless would receive would depend on the state's unemployment rate. Florida would be the first state to tie the two together, though three other states have cut back their benefits in recent weeks.

Governor Rick Scott is expected to sign the bill soon.

The bill would slash unemployment benefits to a maximum of 12 weeks if the unemployment rate is at 5% or below. The most Floridians could get is 23 weeks, if the unemployment rate is 10.5% or higher.



Read more: http://money.cnn.com/2011/05/10/news/economy/florida_unemployment_benefits/index.htm?source=cnn_bin

[Not Me]

1. Didn't Florida's acceptance of Unemployment Stimulus money

under Crist require that they accept federal requirements for unemployment benefits? I seem to recall that was the big Republican buzz, that Crist should turn back the money because it came with 'strings' attached.

[Demeter]

2. So, the theory is

that after 26 weeks, in the middle of the Greater Depression, nobody needs to eat, sleep, wear clothes, get medical care, etc?

If there is a message there, it's DIE UNEMPLOYED SCUM!

[Jackpine Radical]

10. They don't have to die in FL.

They can leave the state & die elsewhere. And that, I imagine, is the plan.

[ixion]

3. If you thought things were bad in Florida, just wait

you ain't seen nothing yet.

[peace frog]

7. You got that right, bunky

Florida will be the most citizen-unfriendly state in the union when Rick Scott and his FL-GOPer sycophants in the legislature have accomplished their goals. And to date, they are pushing their agenda through with frightening speed.

[No Elephants]

4. Won't that result in greater demand for welfare, Medicaid and food stamps?

If so, doesn't that mean taxpayers in other states will be indirectly giving to Florida and its residents even more than we already do?

(I'm really asking. Not sure how those programs work.)

[closeupready]

12. If it does, they'll just cut back on those programs, too. Problem solved.

Life's problems are so easy to solve when you are a Republican. :sarcasm:

[HockeyMom]

5. People will leave the state

I used to work with a disabled teenager. His Dad lost his job in construction with the housing bust. He couldn't find another job. They lost their house and were living out of their van. The Dad found a job in North Dakota on a Friday. They packed up and left Florida the following Tuesday.

People will follow the jobs. Sunshine and warm weather won't be enough to keep them.

[peace frog]

8. It's already a fact

that there are more people leaving Florida than moving here, reversing a decades-long trend.

[Hubert Flottz]

6. I'd sooner take a vacation in Hell than in Florida.

I've spent my last dollar in that state.

[raccoon]

9. K&R--one more gets this on Greatest, yall! nt

[bobburgster]

11. How come?

It seems whenever Republicans get elected there is a mandate to cut programs that crucify the average, or struggling, citizen, and they always succeed. When Democrats get elected, it is a mandate in name only. The only thing we get is gridlock or watered down programs/laws that do next to nothing for the average, or struggling, citizen.

[PFunk]

13. Well I know this will piss off Disney.

I mean who'll want to visit a park in a state where most folks don't want to go to. And many residents (especially pre-retirement ones) will now want to leave cutting into profits (among other things).

No the big mouse wont like this one bit.

[alarimer]

14. I hate Republicans; I hate them so very much.

Just when I thought I couldn't possibly hate them more, they go and do something so heartless, so fucking MEAN, that my hatred goes up another notch. I want Republicans (both politicians and their ignorant voters) to suffer, either physically or financially but I want them to hurt as much as they are hurting other people.

I just cannot understand why these people are such selfish assholes. I do not get it.

[Mojo_electro]

16. I am with you... I can't express it strongly enough!

It sucks so bad and I hate them too. And it hurts, because I LOVE my state, I have always been very proud of the state of Florida. I've lived here my whole life. All my friends and family are here. I love my Everglades, love my Disney World, love my space shuttle, love my Florida Keys, love my beaches. :) It makes me so sad when I think about it. They are not even *attempting* anymore to mask their unrelenting greed and malice. It's just a kick in the balls right out in the open. This unemployment thing is just icing on the cake.

:cry:

I am struggling to find a job and just today signed up at the day labor place. I have no medical insurance, all after working my whole adult life for a company that went under and I have not yet been able to recover from that. And still I don't want to leave Florida, I am hoping things will get better.

To top it off, my girlfriend is a school teacher, and now I read that Skeletor is cutting another 2 billion from the schools. She comes home every night with stacks of papers to grade, and works at it the whole evening sometimes, only to grab something to eat and fall into bed so she can get up at 5:30 the next day and do it over again. I hate seeing her work so hard only for a slap in the face.

Rick Scott is the worst thing to happen to Florida that I can remember. And still I love it here and hold on to hope things will get better. I plan to persevere and outlast our felon of a Medicare scamming "should-be-in-prison" so-called Governor.

I don't know a single person who voted for him. How is he the governor and why is he not in prison? :grr:

Seeing everyone I love get shit on is really getting old. My hope is that my fellow Floridians will be here rebuilding this disaster long after Rick Scott is just a bad memory.

[defendandprotect]

15. Forcing workers into slavery -- for benefit of elites --