Unemployment benefit extension stalls in Senate

WASHINGTON — Legislation to extend unemployment benefits is stalled in the Senate amid a partisan dispute over, among other issues, how to finance the plan.

Republicans are blocking the measure that would extend benefits by up to 20 weeks because they want votes on several amendments, including on how to pay for the $2.4 billion measure so that it doesn't add to the deficit. Democrats want to finance the aid by extending an employer-payroll surtax due to expire at the end of this year.

More than 5,300 Washington state residents have exhausted their benefits, according to the Washington State Employment Security Department. Many worked in the construction, manufacturing and retail industries and were laid off in spring 2008, in the early days of the recession.

"We have wanted to do this for weeks, and they won't let us," Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., said of the Republicans. "We talk about doing something for economic recovery to stimulate the economy. Who is going to spend the money more quickly than somebody who is out of a job, doesn't have income? That's what the unemployment check's about."

Illinois Sen. Dick Durbin, the chamber's second-ranking Democrat, said Republicans are demanding votes on unrelated issues such as immigration.

Arizona Sen. Jon Kyl, the No. 2 Republican, said his side wants amendments on "stuff that pertains to the subject: How do you pay for it, for example?"

The House last month approved legislation introduced by Rep. Jim McDermott, D-Wash., that would extend benefits for 13 weeks in Washington and 26 other states with unemployment rates topping 8.5 percent. Democrats said they had hoped to forward the bill to President Obama by the end of last month, before an estimated 400,000 Americans exhausted their benefits.

The Senate vote initially was delayed by 17 Democrats who said their states would be excluded under the House plan. They agreed to accept a revised plan that would extend benefits by 14 weeks in all states, with an additional six weeks for Washington and the other states with jobless rates of at least 8.5 percent.

The national unemployment rate last month was 9.8 percent, the highest since 1983, while the share of unemployed who have been jobless for at least six months reached the highest level in at least five decades. More than 5.4 million people have been unemployed for at least 27 weeks, according to the Labor Department.

About 1.3 million people, including up to 19,000 in Washington state, potentially will exhaust their benefits by the end of the year, according to the National Employment Law Project.

Seattle Times staff reporter Janet I. Tu contributed to this report.