Governor Brown Urges Congress To Extend Unemployment Benefits

Governor Brown has sent a letter to House Speaker John Boehner, Majority Leader Harry Reid, and Minority Leaders Nancy Pelosi and Mitch McConnell. In it, he urges Congress to extend benefits for those who are still without jobs. 

The federal extension has helped people who used up their regular state unemployment benefits over the past several years, but they're set to expire in a week-and-a-half. Brown is asking Congress to pass legislation to keep the federal extension going through the end of next year. He says otherwise, more than 214,000 California workers will lose their benefits and suffer "irreparable harm."

In his letter, Brown also calls California's unemployment insurance program severely under-funded by the federal government, and blames that for delays in benefits.