From The Martinsville Bulletin

Fifth District U.S. Rep. Tom Perriello on Tuesday wrote a letter urging a high-ranking Democrat to support Perriello’s efforts to extend unemployment benefits for people in all states.

Last week, the House of Representatives passed a bill that would extend unemployment benefits to workers in 27 states that have unemployment rates of 8.5 percent or higher. The legislation, which passed with bipartisan support, would extend the benefits for 13 weeks.

Because Virginia’s unemployment rate is 6.5 percent, workers here do not qualify under the legislation. However, some parts of Virginia, particularly in Perriello’s 5th District, have much higher jobless rates.

According to figures released Wednesday, Martinsville has the state’s highest unemployment rate at 20.8 percent. Henry County’s is the second highest at 14.6, a rate that matches that of Danville, which Perriello also represents.

Because workers in southern Virginia would not receive a benefit extension under the House bill, Perriello, D-Albemarle County, voted against the legislation Sept. 22, according to a news release from his office.

On Tuesday, Perriello sent a letter to Rep. Charles Rangel, chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee, asking for his support to immediately extend the benefits to all states for six weeks. The letter also asks Rangel for help in developing a new formula for future laws that would take regional unemployment rates into account.

“As illustrated by my district, some localities have a much higher need than those in neighboring areas,” Perriello wrote. “An alternative measure that takes regional unemployment rates into account may serve as a better measure for eligibility, and I believe it could lower costs by helping those most in need.”

Perriello’s letter asks Rangel to support adding the six-week extension to the bill when it is in conference committee. That is the point when legislators from both the Senate and House iron out differences in their two versions of the legislation before it goes to the president, assuming both bodies pass the legislation.

The Senate is considering the legislation now, Jessica Barba, Perriello’s press secretary, said Wednesday. She did not know how long the process might take but said there is urgency to the legislation because some people’s benefits ran out at the end of September, and others are set to expire by the end of the year.

Local figures on the number of people whose jobless benefits are set to expire were not available Wednesday. However, according to a study by the National Employment Law Project, benefits for 14,832 people in Virginia will expire by the end of the year.

“Given that the localities of highest unemployment of Virginia are in our district (Martinsville and Danville), it’s safe to assume it’s thouands of people in the 5th District,” Barba said.

Perriello had not received a response to the letter as of Wednesday afternoon, but he is committed to fighting for the change, she said.

“Unemployment is a national problem, but our response must focus relief on our most distressed communities, including regions like Southern Virginia,” Perriello said in the release. “Especially because the Virginia General Assembly blocked the extension in unemployment benefits provided by the stimulus bill earlier this year, many Virginians in Central and Southside Virginia need this assistance as they seek new employment in a brutal job market.”

Perriello and U.S. Reps. Peter Welch of Vermont and David Loebsack of Iowa also plan to introduce legislation to extend unemployment benefits in all states. Barba said that legislation is another way of trying to achieve the same goal.