02/05/10 - Madison County
44-year-old Anthony Deerinwater does
not have a job for the first time in his life. He is the
only source of income for his wife and children and is now
forced to file for unemployment benefits.
Tennessee ranks fourth lowest in
weekly unemployment benefits across the nation. That means
the biggest unemployment check a Tennessean can receive is
$275 a week. Deerinwater said, "How can you support a
family on $275 a week? In this economy, it's impossible with
fuel and food."
Lawmakers want to cut that
benefit even more to keep the state's unemployment
compensation fund afloat. Deerinwater said, "Some of the
policy makers that are making our policy have lost touch
with the average working man."
Deerinwater said the
state should go after those who abuse the system, rather
than those who use it as a safety net. Meanwhile he's
already taking steps to survive. "We're going to have to
shut down a vehicle and take insurance off of one of
them. It's hard on marriages, it's hard on the family and
the children don't understand."
Deerinwater said the prospect of
having even less money each week is just one more thing to
worry about. "It's stressful. It's on your head 24 hours a
day."
Right now, the idea of cutting
benefits is a suggestion and has not yet been proposed in
legislation.