Congress will soon be making an important decision on whether to continue funding a program that has helped put thousands of Californians back to work and has provided emergency assistance to thousands more.

The U.S. Senate is currently working on a jobs bill that will assist unemployed workers nationwide by extending emergency Unemployment benefits and COBRA health insurance subsidies.  Tomorrow, March 9, 2010, the Senate is scheduled to vote on an amendment to the jobs bill, the Murray/Kerry amendment, that would extend TANF ECF funding for an additional six months (until March 0f 2011).

TANF ECF supports struggling California workers and their families with subsidized employment, basic cash assistance, and work supports.   California gets an 80% match from the federal government on all TANF ECF programs.  At a time when California is experiencing unprecedented budget deficits, TANF ECF has served as a lifeline for struggling Californians and for the state’s economy.

If you’d like to let your Senators know how you feel about extending the TANF ECF, visit The Center for Law and Social Policy’s website.  They have an action alert here that gives you information about the TANF ECF and connects you to the U.S. Senate’s website, where you can contact your Senators.

If you’re interested in knowing how the TANF ECF has helped California so far, check out this report from The California Budget Project.

Tags: unemployment

This entry was posted on Monday, March 8th, 2010 at 4:24 pm and is filed under Advocacy. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.