Long-term unemployed in Missouri will lose their benefits
Thousands of Missourians currently collecting unemployment benefits will be booted off the rolls in coming weeks after the state Senate failed Thursday to approve an extension.
The continuation of benefits for jobseekers out of work for more than 79 weeks has been blocked all month by Sen. Jim Lembke, a Republican from St. Louis County, and other fiscal conservatives.
The extended benefits program, which has been in place in Missouri for two years, uses federal funds to provide unemployment benefits up to 99 weeks. It would have funneled about $106 million in federal money to the state’s unemployed beginning in April and running through next January.