LANSING – The Republican opposition which killed bills to extend federal jobless benefits on June 24, and again on June 30, will have immediate consequences to the nation’s – and Michigan’s – unemployed workers

According to the state Unemployment Insurance Agency (UIA), the Extended Benefit (EB) program will end in Michigan as the program makes its final unemployment benefit payment the week ending July 3. In addition, the federal Emergency Unemployment Compensation (EUC) program immediately stopped taking new claims.

Some 408,000 unemployed workers in Michigan are currently receiving either state or federally-funded unemployment benefits. UIA estimates that 87,000 will exhaust their jobless benefits by the July 3 date. By the end of July that number will double.

By the end of the year the number of jobless who will be affected by the expiration of the federal extensions will actually exceed the 408,000 currently collecting.

Extended benefits “is the last unemployment benefit extension in a series of extensions that have all now expired,” Stephen Geskey, director of Michigan’s Unemployment Insurance Agency (UIA) announced June 25. “At this point, federal funding for EB and the EUC programs ended on June 2, 2010. At this point federal funding for the EB and EUC programs ended on June 2 and legislation to extend those programs has not been approved.”

More than one million Americans lost their jobless benefits almost immediately after the Senate’s June 24 vote, and they will be joined by an estimated 41,000 per day.

“This is a bill that would remedy serious challenges that American families face as a result of this Great Recession,” said Max Baucus, D-Mont. “This is a bill that works to build a stronger economy. This is a bill to put Americans back to work.”

Republican senators focused on the widening deficit. The bill “adds new taxes and over $30 billion to an already staggering $13 trillion dollar national debt,” said Republican Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell.

The Extended Benefits program began in January 2009 and had been paying up to 20 weeks of federally-funded unemployment benefits in Michigan to those who exhausted their state and Emergency Unemployment Compensation benefits. Geskey said his agency has begun notifying those in the Extended Benefit program that it will trigger off with the payment of benefits for the week ending July 3.

The EUC program and its four tiers provided up to 53 weeks of unemployment benefits to jobless workers who depleted their state unemployment benefits. Those currently receiving EUC can continue to collect the balance of benefits remaining on their tier, but cannot move on to the next tier.

The Federal Additional Compensation (FAC), which adds $25 a week to all unemployment benefit payments, is no longer available for new claims that started after May 29 and all FAC payments will end by December 11, 2010.

Unemployed workers who are now collecting unemployment benefits can find out how many weeks they have remaining on their claim by calling MARVIN at 1-866-638-3993 and selecting option 2. Those with online web accounts with the UIA can check their “Benefit Payment History” for information about their remaining weeks of benefits.

Additional information about the end of EB and EUC is on the UIA website (www.michigan.gov/uia). In addition, the agency has also established a toll-free telephone number (1-866-MI-HELPS) for people to call for pre-recorded information about the extension programs.

Individuals nearing the end of their unemployment benefits may also visit the state’s Helping Hand website (www.michigan.gov/helpinghand) for information about family support, housing, health care, jobs and training, and unemployment benefits. People can also apply online through Helping Hand for food assistance and to determine if they may be eligible for other types of assistance. 2-1-1, a service of the United Way, is another way to locate additional resources that are available in their communities.