Looming end to EUC benefits will have big impact in Wisconsin

Extended Unemployment Compensation (EUC) benefits are scheduled to expire at the end of this month. The abrupt end of this program will leave a large hole in household budgets.

Nationally, around 1.3 million workers currently receiving federal EUC benefits who will be abruptly cut off in the week between Christmas and New Year’s, and an additional 850,000 workers will run out of state unemployment insurance in the first three months of 2014. The National Employment Law Project has a report with the relevant details.

In Wisconsin, 23,700 individuals are slated to lose their EUC benefits at the end of December according to this House report. That’s about one out of every 242 residents having their income slashed just before the New Year.

In comparison, only 8,500 residents in Minnesota are slated to lose their EUC benefits, nearly three times less than in Wisconsin. Both Illinois and Michigan will experience a similar impact to what will happen in Wisconsin in regards to the lose of EUC benefits. Relative to their populations, the ratio of individuals affected by the end of EUC benefits is one out of every 200 in Illinois and one out of every 226 in Michigan. Indiana presents better numbers, as one out of every 340 of its residents will lose EUC benefits at the end of December if the program is not renewd by Congress.

In other words, a great many residents in Wisconsin (and Illinois and Michigan) still need EUC benefits.