Unemployment Benefits - National League of Cities Issues Statement Regarding Crisis

Ronald Loveridge, the Mayor of Riverside, Ca., recently issued a statement regarding the unemployment crisis facing America today, in his capacity of President of the National League of Cities. The statement was issued following the release of the August 2010 Employment Situation report and highlighted the financial difficulties placed on millions of American families by the crisis.

“As the August jobs report has shown, nearly 15 million Americans remain unemployed and 10.5 million remain underemployed - the consequences of the worst recession since the Great Depression are still being felt throughout the nation,” said Loveridge. “The loss of jobs has meant that more and more Americans and American families are facing economic hardships for which they are not directly responsible.”

Although Loveridge did not directly address the unemployment benefits extension issue and call for the introduction of a new Tier 5 to the existing benefits structure, he did stress the need for federal action in order to solve this problem. Loveridge also called for the Democrats and Rebublicans to put aside their differences in helping to solve the problem, and said, “As it is becoming increasingly clear that the economic recovery remains very sluggish, we call upon Congress and the Administration to set aside their partisan and ideological differences and focus on what must be their priority issue: putting Americans back to work.”