Ex-mayor hopes to reverse rejection of $125M unemployment stimulus

The former Danville mayor challenging Del. Danny Marshall for his House of Delegates seat has signed a petition demanding that the General Assembly reconvene and accept $125 million in federal stimulus money for unemployment benefits it rejected last week.

Seward Anderson, Marshall’s Democratic opponent, also calls for Marshall and Del. Don Merricks, R-Pittsylvania County, to sign the petition and join the fight to reverse the General Assembly’s decision. Marshall and Merricks were the only House Republicans to vote in favor of receiving the money.

Anderson said Friday that Merricks and Marshall should have persuaded some of their Republican colleagues to support the boost for the state’s unemployment fund.

“We expect our delegates to vote properly and I’m glad they did, but there’s an added duty to the job,” Anderson said in a statement. “The bill didn’t pass and families don’t get the help they need. To me that means the job is not done.”

“I’m challenging both Delegate Marshall and Delegate Merricks to stand up, sign the petition publicly, and moreover to actively pursue a special session so we can reverse this decision that amounts to a slap in the face to struggling families in the commonwealth,” Anderson added in the statement.

The House of Delegates, by a 53-46 margin, defeated a move last week to accept $125 million in added unemployment benefits that were part of President Barack Obama’s economic stimulus package. Republicans and business interests believed the extra funding would have burdened small businesses with mandates after the money ran out and could have brought about higher taxes to replenish the fund for jobless benefits.

The added money would have made unemployed part-time workers in Virginia and those training for other jobs eligible for unemployment benefits.

Merricks said signing a petition to ask the General Assembly to rehash old arguments would be fruitless. Gov. Timothy M. Kaine, who pushed for the funding, should work out a compromise with House Republicans to help Virginia’s unemployed, Merricks said, calling Anderson’s actions a political ploy.

“If he wants me sign one (the petition), he should come here and ask me,” Merricks said Friday. Merricks said he is not sure he would sign the petition.

Marshall, a Republican, said if the there were a sunset provision lifting the requirements on businesses after the money was gone, the proposal would have passed. By not working with House Republicans, Marshall said, “the governor has given the Democrats something for them to beat us up with.” However, Marshall said he would sign the petition.

Marshall said state Republicans have not received credit from Democrats for backing a temporary 13-week extension in unemployment benefits and a bill lowering health insurance costs for small businesses and laid-off workers.

Contact John R. Crane at jcrane@registerbee.com or (434) 791-7987.