Nashua Telegraph - Ayotte Votes to Extend Benefits

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U.S. Sen. Kelly Ayotte was one of only four Senate Republicans to vote for a three-month extension to unemployment benefits Thursday, a measure that came one vote short of passing in the Senate. "I look at every proposal on the merits," Ayotte said Friday. "There are times I agree with my party and there are times I disagree with my party."

Ayotte shrugged off suggestions of a rift between her and the rest of the GOP, and said she supported the extension of benefits because it was paid for.

"I didn't want to raise the debt," Ayotte said. "There are ways we could make sure in extending unemployment benefits we didn't add to the deficit."

Ayotte, of Nashua, cited her support for banning millionaires from receiving unemployment benefits, which was a component of the failed legislation Thursday.

Ayotte said she supports incorporating job training with unemployment benefits to help people who have lost a job that may not exist anymore and may need to be retrained in another field.

"I think training is an important component," Ayotte said, adding that job training would most help the long-term unemployed.

Ayotte said Americans receiving unemployment benefits and disability money simultaneously are "reforms that need to be worked on."

Ayotte's vote came shortly after an initial Senate vote to extend the benefits mustered only 55 votes. Sixty votes were needed to extend the benefits.

After that vote, Democrats tried again to get the benefits extended by offsetting the additional associated costs with cuts to retirement programs. Fifty-eight senators supported that legislation, with Democrat Harry Ried voting against for procedural reasons.

The bill would have restored unemployment benefits to 1.7 million Americans who have stopped receiving their benefits because of long-term unemployment.

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