'Fiscal Cliff' Deal Means Continued Benefits for Long-Term Unemployed

CHICAGO - The 'fiscal cliff' deal means that the federal Emergency Unemployment Compensation insurance program will continue for another year. The Illinois Department of Employment Security says Illinois workers collecting EUC should continue to certify for benefits, but individuals who exhausted EUC are not eligible for additional unemployment insurance benefits.

Had Congress not re-authorized the program, 90,000 Illinois claimants would have received their last EUC payment within the next two weeks according the IDES. Another 2,800 individuals each week would have completed the state's Regular Unemployment Insurance program and not had access to the federal EUC.

$11 million in cuts to IDES will remain in force, howeve, because fewer people are receiving unemployment insurance. IDES already has stopped scheduling 216 intermittent employees, consolidated eight offices and vacated 10 outpost locations. They say federal cuts could mean further service reductions, including additional office consolidations.