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COLUMBIA, MO. -- Extended unemployment benefits started running out on Wednesday for nearly 2 million Americans, including more than 43,000 Missourians.

A rally took place on Wednesday afternoon in Columbia to protest the cuts in unemployment checks.

Activists said the lack of jobless benefits could have Missouri lawmakers slashing vital jobs and services while their need continues to rise.

Unless members of Congress change their minds, unemployment checks that had been extended up to 99 weeks will end this month. 

Members of an activist group called Grass Roots Organizing, or GRO, held a small rally in front of the Boone County Family Support Division Offices. Activists said the expiration of benefits means thousands of Missouri families will buy necessities instead of presents this Christmas.

“That’s their lifeline," Communication Workers of America Union Representative Beth Pitney said. "That’s what they depend on. That is their only source of income. We have families moving in with families. We have two or three families to a house just trying to survive. Now, what little they have to survive on is being cut from them.”

Activists said Missouri’s Family Support Division Offices will get a lot busier as more Missourians lose their unemployment checks. GRO Members want Gov. Jay Nixon to veto any upcoming legislation that cuts any type of family service. State lawmakers could try to close nearly 75 Family Support Division Offices throughout Missouri.

“I’m very nervous," GRO Board Member Brenda Procter said. "The climate in the State Legislature is not a climate that is supportive of the people. We’re here today to stand up for the people. A lot of the budget cuts over these last several years have already been made on the backs of the most vulnerable families we have in Missouri. We think enough is enough and it has to stop.”

Members of Congress from both sides of the aisle said they’re open to the idea of extending unemployment benefits, as long as it doesn’t add another $14 trillion to the national debt.