99ers is a colloquial term for unemployed people in the United States, mostly citizens, who have exhausted all of their unemployment benefits, including all unemployment extensions. As a result of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act passed by Congress in February 2009, many unemployed people could receive up to 99 weeks of unemployment insurance benefits, hence the name "99ers". An estimated 7 million people are affected. Unemployment benefits United States unemployment benefits during the financial crisis of 2007-2010 were calculated as follows (with the availability of extensions dependent on a state's unemployment rate (see: Bureau of Labor Statistics): Legislation Legislation to extend unemployment benefits had been blocked from coming to a vote on the floor of the Senate through minority Republican filibuster or holds. This began in February 2010 with the block of an unemployment benefit funding bill vote for already authorized and granted unemployment checks for those who had not exhausted their benefits by a single Senator, Jim Bunning (R-KY). Following that precedent, Senate floor votes on unemployment have required a supermajority of sixty votes to bring the bills to the floor. Bunning's position was that he wanted the bill paid for out of previously allocated funds from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009. Senators who did not initially support Bunning's position since used this argument to block or delay votes on unemployment extensions that could not achieve a supermajority to reach the floor for a vote. Economists have cited that unemployment should not have the requirement of being paid for out of an existing stimulus package because it is stimulative and, therefore, to take away allocated funds from other projects would have a self-canceling effect. The passage of the bill to fund eligible (non-exhausted) unemployment benefits required a special appointment of a replacement senator, Carte Goodwin, by West Virginia Governor Joe Manchin, after the death of Senator Robert Byrd (D-WV), whose vote was needed for the supermajority. This gave the Senate its 60th vote for the legislation and the funds were released to the states to pay unemployment compensation to those who were eligible and who had not yet exhausted benefits as of July 2010. The passage of the bill did not provide for those who exhausted their benefits, the 99ers. On August 4, 2010, Senator Debbie Stabenow (D-MI) introduced a bill (S.3706) to extend unemployment past 99 weeks. The bill was referred to the Senate