Bill Extending Unemployment Benefits Breezes Through Senate

The Senate has approved legislation that extends unemployment insurance benefits and eligibility for unemployment health care benefits through the end of 2010, including extending benefits retroactively so families will receive the benefits that were suspended when these programs expired on February 28, 2010.

The legislation, introduced by Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus (D-Mont.) and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.), extends loan programs for small businesses and tax cuts that provide the tax certainty families and businesses need to create jobs, along with other important safety net programs that families and communities depend on in the tough economic climate. (See http://dpc.senate.gov/docs/lb-111-2-25.html).

By way of background, on December 7, 2009, H.R. 4213 was introduced in the House and agreed to by a 241 to 181 vote on December 9 (Roll no. 943).

On December 10, 2009, the measure was received in the Senate and referred to the Committee on Finance.  On March 1, 2010, the Senate Committee on Finance discharged H.R. 4213 by Unanimous Consent.  Later that day, the measure was laid before the Senate by unanimous consent.  Senators Baucus, on behalf of Senator Reid and himself, offered a substitute amendment (S.A. 3336), the American Workers, State, and Business Relief Act.

The bill would specifically extend unemployment benefits through December 31, 2010.  These unemployment benefits expired on February 28, 2010.  Prior to the expiration, an unemployed worker could receive up to 26 weeks of unemployment benefits provided by the state in which they were employed.

After the state-provided benefits were exhausted, the worker could qualify for 34 more weeks of benefits provided by the federal government.  If that person was unemployed in a state with an unemployment rate above six percent, they qualified for an additional 13 weeks of benefits also provided by the federal government.  Unemployed workers in states with an unemployment level over 8.5 percent qualified for an additional six weeks of benefits also provided by the federal government.

In addition, the federal government paid 100 percent of the cost of state Extended Benefits programs which provided up to 13 additional weeks of benefits for unemployed workers who had exhausted regular state benefits or Emergency Unemployment Compensation.  Last year the Recovery Act increased weekly unemployment benefits by an additional $25 per week.  The legislation would retroactively extend these provisions.

The legislation would also extend the 65 percent COBRA continuation coverage subsidy for terminated workers through December 31, 2010 and also includes technical clarifications to the program.  The subsidy was originally enacted as part of the Recovery Act and was expanded later in 2009.

The bill would keep the 2009 federal poverty guidelines in place for 2010 to avoid a reduction in eligibility for poverty-based programs.(See http://dpc.senate.gov/dpcdoc.cfm?doc_name=lb-111-2-25).

A reduction would otherwise occur because of the decrease in the average cost of goods that results from the economic downturn.  This provision would allow all currently eligible individuals to remain eligible for poverty-based programs.

The legislation would likewise extend for six months the increased federal medical assistance percentage (“FMAP”) made available to states in the Recovery Act.  This extension would provide states additional funding through June 30, 2011.

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