Newsroom
Latest News
The termination of federal unemployment benefits last month halted payments to 3,086 Sonoma, Lake and Mendocino county residents totaling about $936,000 in the first week, according to state figures.
Statewide, the cutoff affected 213,793 long-term unemployed people, who lost an average weekly benefit of $303, the state Employment Development Department said.
That adds up to a loss of nearly $65 million for the California economy in the first week since the cutoff on Dec. 28, Rep. Mike Thompson, D-St. Helena, said Thursday.
U.S. Rep. Mike Thompson praised the bipartisan Senate vote Tuesday that launched consideration of a three-month extension of nationwide emergency unemployment insurance.
Thompson, a Democrat and Benicia's representative in the House, is a senior member of the Committee on Ways and Means.
In a statement Tuesday, he said, "Today's bipartisan vote in the Senate is a positive step toward reinstating an important economic lifeline that millions of Americans depend on as they make the transition from joblessness to employment."
– U.S. Rep. Mike Thompson (CA-5), a senior member of the House Committee on Ways and Means, today reiterated his call on the House Majority to pass legislation extending emergency unemployment insurance as $64,858,382 was drained from California's economy during the first week of expired federal benefits. On December 28th, nearly 214,000 people in California lost an average $303 weekly benefit when the federal Emergency Unemployment Compensation program expired. An additional 12,531 people in California will lose benefits each week during the first half of 2014.
On Tuesday the US Senate voted 60 to 37 to consider extending emergency unemployment insurance to more than one million Americans for three months, a step lauded by the two congressmen representing Lake County.
US Reps. John Garamendi (D-Fairfield) and Mike Thompson (D-St. Helena) also urged their colleagues in the House of Representatives to take up the legislation.
U.S. Rep. Mike Thompson (CA-5), chair of the House Gun Violence Prevention Task Force, released the following statement on the three year anniversary of the shooting in Tucson, Arizona in which former Congresswoman Gabby Giffords was shot and wounded:
"Three years ago today, my good friend and former colleague, Gabby Giffords, was meeting her constituents at a public event when a gunman opened fire on the crowd. Gabby, Rep. Ron Barber, and 11 others were wounded. Six were killed.
U.S. Rep. Mike Thompson (CA-5), a senior member of the House Committee on Ways and Means, issued the following statement after the Senate voted to begin consideration of a bipartisan three-month extension of emergency unemployment insurance (S. 1845) on a vote of 60 to 37:
In a statement, the congressman – Democratic chair of the House Gun Violence Prevention Task Force – said two new executive actions made by the Obama Administration "will strengthen our criminal background check system and go a long way toward helping make sure guns don't get into the wrong hands."
U.S. Rep. Mike Thompson (CA-5), chair of the House Gun Violence Prevention Task Force, released the following statement today on the Obama Administration's announcement of two new executive actions to strengthen the federal background check system.
Dear Friend,
It is a high honor and great privilege to represent our 5th Congressional District in Congress. With 2013 now behind us, this is a perfect time to reflect on our past year and to also focus on the year ahead. To keep up with news from our district and Washington, D.C. in 2014, "like" me on Facebook, follow me on Twitter and sign up for my e-newsletters.
Rep. Mike Thompson announced Friday that his bipartisan legislation to improve treatment options for active duty soldiers with traumatic brain injuries (TBI) and post-traumatic stress (PTS) has passed in both the Senate and House and is expected to be signed into law by the president.
The legislation, which passed as a part of H.R. 3304, the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) for Fiscal Year 2014, allows service members to access innovative treatments offered outside military medical facilities, including potentially the Pathway Home program in Yountville.