Va. jobless benefits on the way after delay

Some unemployed Virginians, waiting for benefits checks stalled for more than a month by an aged computer system, will begin receiving them this week, state officials said.

Those who lose their jobs starting in late December might face another hurdle: Unless Congress acts by the end of the year, a series of extensions of unemployment benefits will lapse, greatly reducing the amount of aid they receive.

The wave of extensions began in July 2008. As of the start of November, many unemployed Virginians were eligible for up to 72 weeks of jobless benefits, nearly triple the standard 26 weeks.

In addition, the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, also known as the federal stimulus package, added up to $25 to the weekly amount, bumping the maximum to $403 in Virginia, said Robert Coppinger, manager of the benefits payment charge unit of the Virginia Employment Commission.

Last month, President Barack Obama approved a further extension of unemployment benefits. That added up to 14 weeks, for a maximum of 86 weeks, of benefits for Virginians.

Virginia was not eligible for a separate six-week extension because the state's unemployment rate, which was 6.3 percent in October, falls below the trigger point of 8.5 percent under the federal law.

Virginians whose benefits ran out since Obama signed the bill Nov. 6 still have not received anything from the most recent extension. The reason: a computer system that's more than 25 years old, said Joyce Fogg, spokeswoman for the Employment Commission.

"We have a very old system," she said Monday, "and it's written in COBOL," a 50-year-old programming language. "Nobody uses COBOL for computer systems anymore. It takes a while to get programming done."

In addition, she said: "There are different funding streams paying benefits to different individuals. That makes it a little more complicated to program. It's not like everyone is getting exactly the same benefit."

The good news for Virginians is that the first checks under the latest extension are expected to be issued by the agency Friday, Coppinger said. They will receive the full amount for which they are eligible, Fogg said.

She said she did not know how many people were awaiting benefits payments, but Fogg said the agency last week mailed notices to about 10,730 people who might be eligible for them.

The Employment Commission, she said, is seeking a new computer system, which could cost $30 million to $40 million. The decision, she said, lies with the Virginia Information Technologies Agency.

"The process has not gotten to the point of an award at this time," Fogg said. "It's a very cumbersome and involved process."

On the federal level, most of the extensions will expire at year's end, unless Congress and Obama renew them, Coppinger said.

A lack of action from Congress, he said, could reduce the length of the extensions for people receiving unemployment benefits and eliminate many extensions for those who lose jobs as early as late December.

Extending jobless benefits has consistently won widespread support in Washington.

In a conference call last week, U.S. Labor Secretary Hilda Solis said the Obama administration supported a further extension of the benefits.

"I can't give you a specific date," Solis said, "but believe me, this is a big priority of this president and the Department of Labor."

Larry Sabato, director of the University of Virginia's Center for Politics, said in an e-mail Monday: "I'd wager that Congress will extend the benefits sooner or later, but whether it gets done before January 1 is anybody's guess. The reason it will get done eventually is that next year is an election year, and the high unemployment rate is bound to be one of the top two or three issues."

Philip Walzer, (757) 222-3864, phil.walzer@pilotonline.com