Bill would restore assistance to more than 80,000 in Massachusetts

Washington (April 7, 2014) – Senator Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.) released the following statement today after the Senate voted to extend Emergency Unemployment Insurance for the more than 2.3 million Americans who have been without this critical support since January. The bill reauthorizes emergency unemployment insurance benefits for five months and allows for retroactive payments to eligible beneficiaries going back to December 28, 2013.  

“Eighty thousand Massachusetts families are one step closer to finally receiving critical unemployment assistance to help pay rent and put food on the table. I call on Republicans in the House of Representatives to stop playing partisan games with the lives of millions of Americans and immediately schedule a vote on this bipartisan compromise for the families in the Commonwealth and around the country who are suffering without this vital lifeline.”