We know that if Congress doesn't extend its Emergency Unemployment Compensation (EUC) program by the end of November, over 80,000 Illinoisans will exhaust their state or federal unemployment benefits. Unfortunately, another 46,000 workers here are also in danger of losing their sole source of income.

Why? At the end of the month, Congress will likely stop paying for the lion's share of the Extended Benefits (EB) program, a separate and permanent program that offers an additional 20 weeks of benefits in states with high levels of unemployment. (Illinois chose to take part in it last June.) Normally, state governments are required to finance half of any EB extensions. The stimulus bill, however, included money to cover the entire cost of the program. But that funding stream expires on November 30 as well, leaving thousands of workers in the lurch if Congress doesn't act quickly.

The National Employment Law Project has more info about the timeline here (PDF).