July 16, 2010

Preserve a Vital Safety Net for Laid-Off Workers and Promote Economic Growth:
Support H.R. 5618, The Restoration of Emergency Unemployment Compensation Act of
2010

Dear Senator,

On behalf of The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, a coalition charged by its
diverse membership of more than 200 national organizations to promote and protect the rights of
all persons in the United States, we urge you to support H.R. 5618, The Restoration of
Emergency Unemployment Compensation Act of 2010. H.R. 5618 would extend the filing
deadline for extended unemployment insurance benefits until Nov. 30, 2010. The most recent
extension of these provisions expired June 2, 2010.

Extending unemployment benefits will help the economy recover while providing badly needed
assistance in today’s historic economic crisis. As recently documented by the Congressional
Budget Office, the extension of jobless aid also provides the most significant boost to the
economy and job growth of any policy option being debated by Congress, and has been
responsible for creating or preserving 800,000 jobs this year alone. In addition to providing an
urgent safety net for laid-off workers, the extension of unemployment benefits has a positive
stimulative effect because the money is quickly recycled through the economy. The
Congressional Budget Office estimates that each dollar spent on unemployment benefits
generates $1.90 in economic stimulus.

The need for these benefits is great. In May, up to 46 percent of the unemployed had been out of
work for more than 27 weeks. But these problems are not affecting all communities equally;
there are dramatic disparities by race, age, and single-parent households. As documented by the
Bureau of Labor Statistics, while overall unemployment in May was unacceptably high at 9.7
percent, among African Americans the jobless rate was a staggering 15.5 percent, among Latinos
12.4 percent, among households headed by a single mother 11.6 percent, and among youth 26.4
percent. The National Employment Law Project estimates that 2.5 million workers have been
cut off jobless benefits since the provisions expired in June, causing states to lose millions per
month in stimulus spending

Without even the minimal income that unemployment insurance benefits provide, the risks to
family stability, health, and safety are dangerously high. With the jobless rate at 9.5 percent, a
level not seen since the deep recession of the early 1980s, Congress should enact the extension
now.
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We urge you to support H.R. 5618. If you have any questions, please contact Corrine Yu, Senior
Counsel, at 202-466-5670, or Nancy Zirkin at 202-263-2880.

Sincerely,

Wade Henderson Nancy Zirkin

President & CEO Executive Vice President