CA Legislature: Extend state unemployment insurance

I was on CA state unemployment benefits for 26 weeks after losing my job last year, then was on federal unemployment for 2 weeks, then that was cut off when the federal government cut off federal unemployment benefits for everyone at the end of Dec 2013. I have survived on savings and some contract work, but many people have exhausted all their savings and all their options. There are now 1.5 million unemployed people in California, with over half not receiving any safety-net benefits at all. There are not enough jobs for all the people who want them. We need to create many hundreds of thousands of jobs, but as an emergency measure we need to throw people a lifeline and extend their state UI benefits. Having so many unemployed with no safety net is a terrible drag on the California economy. People are losing their personal savings, retirement savings, cars, ability to pay utilities, and some have even lost their houses. These all damage our communities. This can all be prevented, if we want it to. And, unemployment benefits return $1.49 for every $1 spent, so it's a very good investment.