The U.S. Senate broke a Republican filibuster and approved legislation restoring unemployment benefits to 2.5 million Americans who lost aid during a political dispute over how to pay for it. Benefits will be extended for those who have already used their standard 26 weeks of unemployment. President Obama, a strong supporter of the unemployment benefits extension, is expected to sign it into law tomorrow.
The legislation would extend through November a program offering the long-term unemployed up to 99 weeks of assistance and provide aid retroactively to those whose checks were cut off by the impasse. It would push total unemployment benefit spending this year to more than $130 billion, a 50 percent increase from last year, according to the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office.
Democrats dropped other unemployment assistance provisions amid complaints over the cost, including a 65 percent subsidy created last year to help the jobless buy health insurance through their former employers (COBRA). There is no plan to extend them during this session of Congress even though it benefited 2 million households last year, according to the Treasury Department. The measure wouldn’t renew an additional $25 weekly jobless benefit (Federal Additional Compensation Program) that was part of last year’s economic stimulus. That means that all retroactive payments would be for $25 less than what they were before June 2nd, as will all payments in new tiers. Nor would it extend a tax exemption for the first $2,400 in unemployment aid.
Also, Democrats don’t plan to extend aid to the growing number of Americans who have already received the maximum 99 weeks of allowable aid (Tier V or Tier 5 provision). 99 weeks (Tier IV) would still be the maximum amount of a time a person could receive benefits for in states with high unemployment rates, and 86 weeks (Tier III) would still be the max in states with low unemployment rates.
A number of other jobs-related provisions, including plans to send additional aid to state governments, that once comprised Democrats’ election-year agenda were jettisoned amid complaints they would add too much to the deficit
Related posts:
- Another 2010 Home Buyer Credit Extension Approved. December Unemployment Insurance Extension Rejected.
- Extra COBRA Unemployment Benefits and Home Buyer Tax Credit Extension into 2010
- Unemployment Extension Running Out For Many As Congress Deadlocked