July 2, 2010

CONTACT: Craig Spivey
WorkSource Oregon Employment Department
503-947-1303
This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Salem:  Funds set aside by the Oregon Legislature for emergency unemployment benefits have run out. Individuals currently on Oregon Emergency Benefits (OEB) will receive their final check during the week of July 4, 2010.

During the 2010 Special Legislative Session, lawmakers instituted OEB to provide unemployment payments to unemployed workers that had exhausted all other available extensions. This extension was intended to bridge the gap for the unemployed until the summer months when the job market generally picks up. Lawmakers set aside $19 million from the Unemployment Insurance Trust Fund to fund the program.

The ending of OEB affects more than 3,000 individuals.  Since the beginning of 2010, more than 14,000 individuals have exhausted all unemployment insurance benefits available to them.  For many, this represents more than two years on unemployment.

With the ending of the OEB program, individuals who lose their jobs through no fault of their own have up to 26 weeks of benefits available to them through regular unemployment, and up to 20 weeks of benefits through extended benefits (EB).

A third extension program, the federal Emergency Unemployment Compensation (EUC) program officially ended May 29, 2010. However, individuals who were on EUC at the time it ended will remain until their current tier of benefits exhaust.  Most of those individuals who exhaust EUC will be able to claim up to 20 weeks of EB.

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