MomsRising.org: Where moms and people who love them go to change the world

Over $100 million to AIG execs? Help get federal stimulus money to the people who really need it.

Did you see the headlines about the bailed out Wall Street firm, AIG, that gave $165 million in government funded bonuses to their executives? We need your help getting federal stimulus money where it was intended to go: Into the pockets of people who really need it.

You helped get unemployment insurance expanded for part-time and low wage workers as part of the federal economic stimulus package, and now we need your help again making sure that money gets to Main Street. You see, in order to get this money flowing to where it belongs, your state needs to pass laws to update its unemployment insurance programs so that it will be eligible for all the available funding to help families.

Contact your Governor and state legislators today urging them to bring stimulus money to Main Street now!

February 09, 2010

Subject:

Dear Governor and Legislators,

I'm a member of MomsRising.org, and I live in your state.  I am writing to you today to ask that you work to take advantage of the economic stimulus funds approved by the federal government to improve and expand Unemployment Insurance in our state.

Expanding and improving Unemployment Insurance is important to me because women are especially vulnerable in this economic crisis.  This economic vulnerability is due to the facts that women already have lower wages than men, higher rates of poverty, and are more likely to be supporting children on their own. For example, in February 2009, unemployment among women who maintain families – i.e. women who have no other income to fall back on and are especially vulnerable – was 10.3 percent, up 54 percent in the last year.

Fortunately, the recently signed American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) encourages and helps states to address such coverage gaps. The Unemployment Insurance Modernization Act (UIMA), incorporated in the ARRA, provides substantial financial incentives to states to enact reforms to their UI systems that go a long way to help women with families who now fall through the cracks of the program. These reforms can alleviate hardship for women and families and boost state economies – if states act quickly to implement the reforms needed to qualify for all available funding.

Our state can take advantage of these funds, but only with your action.  Please act now.

To find out more about what our state can do, please visit the resource at:

http://www.nelp.org/index.php/site/issues/category/modernizing_unemployment_insurance

Thank you!

Sincerely,

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