HM 1221

1	House Memorial
2	A memorial to the Congress of the United States, urging
3	Congress to enact a law providing unemployment assistance
4	for individuals who become unemployed as a result of an
5	oil spill.
6
7	WHEREAS, there was an explosion at the Deepwater Horizon
8	oil rig the night of April 20, 2010, and
9	WHEREAS, the explosion caused hundreds of millions of
10	gallons of oil to spill into the Gulf of Mexico and wash up on
11	the coastlines of the five Gulf states, and
12	WHEREAS, this man-made disaster has spoiled Florida's
13	coastline and waterways and devastated its fishing and tourism
14	industries, and
15	WHEREAS, this man-made disaster has directly resulted in
16	the loss of jobs for Floridians, and
17	WHEREAS, many of these individuals were self-employed or
18	independent contractors, and as such do not qualify for
19	unemployment compensation benefits, and
20	WHEREAS, the federal Disaster Unemployment Assistance
21	Program benefits individuals who become unemployed only as a
22	direct result of a disaster declared by the President of the
23	United States pursuant to the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief
24	and Emergency Act of 1974, and assistance paid under the act may
25	be invoked only for natural disasters, NOW, THEREFORE,
26
27	Be It Resolved by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
28
29	That the Legislature requests the United States Congress to
30	enact legislation that creates an Oil Spill Unemployment
31	Assistance Program to provide income assistance to individuals
32	who are unemployed as a result of a spill of national
33	significance and who are not entitled to any other unemployment
34	compensation, the cost of which shall be borne by responsible
35	parties under the Oil Pollution Act.
36	BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that copies of this memorial be
37	dispatched to the President of the United States, to the
38	President of the United States Senate, to the Speaker of the
39	United States House of Representatives, and to each member of
40	the Florida delegation to the United States Congress.

CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions.