We urge the President not to pit the unemployed against those workers that have jobs. We do not believe that is fair or right. We oppose your effort to unilaterally alter laws enacted by Congress and drastically change the unemployment system that provides critically needed funds to sustain millions of unemployed workers. The unemployment compensation and the family leave laws serve different and incompatible purposes. Unemployment compensation laws protect workers who lose their jobs when an employer no longer has work available.
Family leave is for workers who have jobs but choose to take time off for personal medical reasons.
We believe burdening the unemployment compensation trust fund with family leave benefits will financially and administratively jeopardize the unemployment compensation system and those whom it sustains. Historically, Congress has been required to bail out numerous state unemployment compensation systems. From 1973 to 1975, Congress extended loans to 25 states that faced insolvent unemployment insurance funds. From 1980 to 1982, Congress was forced to loan monies to 32 states that were insolvent. After 1989, the situation deteriorated again.