Voting against 91 other members of the state house, Rep. Glenn Anderson, R-Fall City, said “nay” to a bill [PDF] that, among other things, temporarily adds an extra $45 a week for everyone collecting unemployment. The bill also bumped the minimum weekly payment from $129 to $155. Anderson says he opposed the legislation because he believes the bill leaves out people with much higher-paying jobs, like Microsoft or Boeing managers, who have expenses based on that higher income.”If you have a single wage earner, with a stay-at-home mom, with a couple of kids, making $150,000″ the bill doesn’t help you, Anderson says. At best, he adds, $45 “buys you a tank of gas to keep looking for a job next week.”Unemployment tops out around $540 a week, he explains. That won’t cover someone’s mortgage on a house bought with a six-figure income should they lose their job. Hoping to rectify that, he introduced an amendment[PDF] to the bill that would increase the maximum payments. The other members voted down the amendment, so Anderson voted against the final bill. “The idea is, if we’re going to provide real economic security for the middle class, then we should be passing legislation that impacts them,” Anderson says. He also thought the bill should be changed to allow small business owners to claim unemployment benefits during lean times without liquidating their business. Rep. Bruce Chandler, R-Granger, joined Anderson in opposing the bill.