Last month's extension of federal unemployment benefits means about 95,000 additional jobless workers in Michigan will qualify for federal benefits as they use up their state benefits from June through the end of 2003.

On May 28, President Bush signed legislation extending the federal Temporary Extended Unemployment Compensation (TEUC) program for another seven months. He approved the bill only after Democrats in Congress pressured Republicans to extend the benefits to help alleviate the hardships of the nation's 8 million jobless - 2.4 million more than when Bush took office.

"TEUC will now continue through Dec. 31, 2003," said David Plawecki, deputy director for the state's Department of Consumer and Industry Services. "We have made the application process as easy as possible. The aim is to move the unemployed worker from the state program to the federal program without a disruption in benefit payments."

Workers who claim their first week of TEUC by the last full week in December will be able to collect their entitlement. No payments will be made for any week of unemployment after March 27, 2004.

Plawecki said this legislation "does not provide any new benefits for those who drew and exhausted TEUC benefits earlier." The TEUC program originally began in March 2002 and was continued in January 2003. Since the program's start, the Michigan Bureau of Workers and Unemployment Compensation has paid out $662.7 million in temporary benefits to some 228,600 jobless workers across Michigan.

Eligible jobless workers are mailed their TEUC applications as they reach their final weeks of their state unemployment claims.

Potentially, there's more good news for Michigan. According to the National Law Employment Law Project and confirmed by the state Unemployment Agency, Michigan could get another 13 weeks of federal extension benefits under the TEUC program that would extend benefits into the first quarter of 2004 if state legislators make a few changes in state law, and if unemployment rates remain high. 
These benefits are available to "high unemployment" states - of which Michigan is one - and by meeting qualifications for a complex set of federal regulations.