Out Of State Unemployment To End

There have been grumblings about the generosity of Massachusetts in paying unemployment to out of state workers. This seems to clarify that it was mandated by federal law and about to change on January 6, 2009 --
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Aid to out-of-state jobless to end
Federal rules say you have to work in Mass. to get benefits here
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Laid off from their construction jobs in Pittsburgh and headed home to Florida, Scott Kling and Jeff Russell took a 600-mile detour to Boston on the worst travel day of the year, the Wednesday before Thanksgiving. The reason: about $100 a week more in their unemployment checks.
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...are among the thousands of out-of-state residents who each year travel to Massachusetts to claim the most generous jobless benefits in the nation, even though they've never worked a day here. Under federal rules, laid-off workers who have earned wages in more than one state can file for unemployment in any state they choose, as long as they do it in person.
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On Jan. 6, new federal regulations will restrict workers to filing unemployment claims in states where they have actually earned wages.
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...Massachusetts is reimbursed by other states for the benefits it pays their workers, the new federal regulations will primarily remove the administrative burden of processing claims and billing other states.