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Labor officials from several states, including Iowa, traveled to Washington, D.C., last week to push for renewal of special unemployment benefits.

Life will get more difficult for millions of Americans if the relevant provisions of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) expire at the end of the year. Among all the economic problems we’re handling, this is a classic example of the taxpayer being over a barrel.

It’s a drag on the long-term economy to put more money into this effort – but it would quickly become a greater immediate drag if millions of Americans were forced out of the mainstream. We need them to help keep money circulating.

According to Iowa Workforce Development, more than 10,000 Iowans “will exhaust their regular state unemployment benefits during the first quarter of 2010. Without a deadline extension, these individuals will not receive any of the federal unemployment benefit extensions.

“An additional 20,000 will exhaust a portion of the three tiers of federal extensions and will not be allowed to continue in the program.”

Many questionable items were included in last spring’s stimulus package, but unemployment insurance is as solid as any federal program could be. It’s the key element in stopping a downward spiral that, left to grow, could become powerful enough to draw in every sector of the economy.

Nationally, according to Iowa Workforce, more than 1 million unemployed people will be shut out of benefits in January if the program expires. The number would grow to more than 3 million by the end of March.

The Iowa members of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees set the right tone by voting to make concessions and save jobs.

Now it’s everybody’s else’s turn. Whatever it takes to keep families above water, we have to do it.