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Granholm: Relief for jobless waiting on Byrd replacement

By Rick Pluta, Michigan Public Radio Network

http://stream.publicbroadcasting.net/production/mp3/wkar/local-wkar-912360.mp3

LANSING, MI –

Thousands more Michigan residents who have been without a job for months will lose their unemployment benefits this week if a standoff in the U.S. Senate is not resolved. Governor Granholm says getting a replacement named for the late West Virginia Senator Robert Byrd seems to be the key to ending the impasse.

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Senate Democratic leaders need one more vote to pass the extension. West Virginia's governor is waiting on a legal opinion on whether he can name a replacement for Byrd, or must call a special election and wait for the results.

In the meantime, Governor Granholm says 87,000 Michigan residents will have lost their benefits by the end of this week without congressional action.

"If there were a job opening for everyone who is unemployed, that would be a different thing, but there are six people looking for every job opening that's available," she says.

Senate Republicans oppose the extension because they don't want to pile more on the federal deficit. Governor Granholm says their first concern should be the short-term business of stimulating a recovery and help for people who can't find jobs.

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