Virginia Democrats on Thursday began what promised to be a lengthy protest of the Republican-led House’s refusal to expand unemployment benefits, preventing the commonwealth from receiving $125 million in federal stimulus funds.
Gov. Tim Kaine had proposed to extend benefits to two new groups: part-time workers and those in job-training programs. The change would have satisfied the White House’s conditions for the stimulus aid.
The measure didn’t, however, satisfy Virginia business groups and GOP legislators, who blocked it on a 53-46 vote Wednesday. They argued the expansion would have created a new burden for employers once the stimulus windfall ran out.
Democrats swiftly denounced the GOP’s decision to block the expansion, setting up a political battle likely to continue until November elections, in which Virginians will vote for a new governor, all 100 delegate seats and other statewide offices. “I don’t think there is any question that what happened yesterday is an elevation of politics over and above the welfare of a lot of people in this commonwealth,” Virginia Democratic Party Chairman Richard Cranwell told The Examiner.
The issue will likely play most heavily in the most recession-stricken regions of Virginia, which are reeling from round after round of job cuts.
“I would suspect that Republicans that have districts that have high unemployment are going to have to answer for that vote repeatedly during the election cycle,” Cranwell said.
Not coincidentally, Kaine on Thursday toured a Virginia Employment Commission office in Martinsville, drawing attention to the city’s staggering 20 percent unemployment rate. And the three Democrats vying for their party’s gubernatorial nomination all issued statements seeking to link the decision to their Republican opponent, former Attorney General Robert McDonnell.
McDonnell, who was not directly involved in Wednesday’s vote, believes the strings attached to the $125 million would “saddle businesses and taxpayers with a significant unfunded federal mandate that will hurt our long-term ability to create new jobs and grow the economy,” said his spokesman, Tucker Martin.
