Thousands of jobless Ohioans might lose benefits soon
Nearly 500,000 unemployed Ohioans could begin exhausting jobless benefits later this month without another federal extension of aid.
The Ohio Department of Job and Family Services will start sending letters in about two weeks to those who will be first impacted.
At a press conference in Columbus, Douglas E. Lumpkin, director of the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services, which oversees unemployment compensation, said benefits could end for many beginning Feb. 27.
Currently, about 500,000 Ohioans collect jobless benefits. About 340,000 are receiving state benefits, which are paid for up to 26 weeks, and another 140,000 are getting benefits through a number of extensions previously approved by Congress. The maximum federal extension, tier 1, is paid up to 20 weeks.
Without another federal extension, Ohio recipients will exhaust benefits when either their state benefits or current tier of federal benefits expires.
For instance, someone in their 20th week of state benefits would not start receiving extended federal benefits after 26 weeks. And someone who exhausts their 20 weeks of "tier 1" federal benefits would no longer begin drawing "tier 2" benefits.
Lumpkin said the department is bracing for a spike in calls to its unemployment compensation centers.
In December -- when the last federal extension went into effect -- agency call centers logged 730,000 calls, including 93,000 in one day and more than double the number received in December 2008.
Lumpkin said the agency recently opened two new call centers, in Columbus and Athens, for a total of seven statewide. It also has boosted its call center staff to about 350, up from 275.
It's not clear whether Congress will again extend unemployment benefits. A jobs bill in the House of Representatives includes a provision to do so, but a bill has not yet been introduced in the Senate.
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