Granite Bay, CA…Local activists will take Rep. Tom McClintock to task for his failure to help the struggling communities in his district. They will meet with Rep. McClintock’s Press Secretary Bill George and deliver over 1,500 petition signatures gathered by California Fair Share and MoveOn.org in support of reauthorizing the Emergency Unemployment Compensation program for more than two million unemployed job-seekers, including 220,000 people in California.

Rep. Tom McClintock, R-Granite Bay, Elk Grove, has said that extending unemployment “hurts the unemployed” because it “reduces the incentive they have to get into the work force.”

The recession is not over for most Americans. The unemployment rate in California is currently the fifth highest in the country at 8.3%. According to the US Department of Labor, it takes an average of 37 weeks for the unemployed to find a job. Helping Californians financially while they are unemployed prevents foreclosures and helps people stay above water while they are job hunting.

More than 1.3 million people have already seen their unemployment benefits cut off. Five million more people will lose their benefits in 2014. Many of these people will become homeless, many others will move in with family, and some will die because of this. A recent Fox News Polls shows that 69% of voters support Extending Unemployment Benefits. The event is part of an ongoing effort by citizens in the Sierra Nevada foothills, calling on Representative McClintock to support extending unemployment benefits.

WHAT: Activists meeting with staff of Representative Tom McClintock urging support for extending unemployment benefits.

WHEN: Thursday February 6, 12:30 pm

WHERE: 8700 Auburn-Folsom Road, Suite 100, Granite Bay, California, 95476