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The clock is ticking on Capitol Hill as talks between Republicans and Democratic lawmakers over a second stimulus package are likely to drag into the weekend. But whatever actions they take, some 12 million Americans will soon see their unemployment benefits run out.
These Americans include on-demand workers, independent contractors, and self-employed people, as well as unemployed Americans who will exhaust the maximum number of weeks that a person can receive unemployment benefits in their state. In the pre-pandemic era, on-demand workers, freelancers and self-employed workers were not eligible for unemployment benefits.
But thanks to a CARES Act program known as Pandemic Unemployment Assistance, these workers became eligible for $ 600 a week in federal unemployment benefits, which expired in July. They were also eligible for state unemployment benefits, calculated on the basis of the average weekly unemployment benefits in their state.
This will expire on Dec.31, but because state labor agencies typically pay unemployment benefits on Saturdays, some 7.3 million Americans who received benefits under the PUA program will receive their benefits. last checks on Dec. 26 – just a day after Christmas, according to a report by Andrew Stettner and Elizabeth Pancotti of the liberal-leaning Century Foundation.
4.65 million Americans will also see their benefits drop to zero on the same day. These Americans were approved for an additional 13 weeks of unemployment benefits through another CARES Act program, Pandemic Emergency Unemployment Compensation, after they exhausted the number of weeks they were given. granted by their States.
The California Department of Employment Development has alerted some 3 million Californians that they should not expect to receive any further benefits after Dec. 26, “Unless the US Congress finds out. measures to prolong them. ” Alerts sent to applicants via email, text, and mail also informed Californians of food and cash assistance programs.
In New York City, some 1.4 million workers will cease receiving unemployment benefits entirely on December 26, according to the Century Foundation report.
Unlike stimulus checks, which lawmakers plan to include in a second stimulus package and which could be sent out relatively quickly – albeit half the size of checks issued in April – state agencies hand in hand -workers need time to recalibrate their backend systems to implement any new changes.
For example, when President Donald Trump allowed the Federal Emergency Management Agency to use disaster relief funds to pay some unemployed Americans an extra $ 300 a week, some agencies took months. government workforce to make the necessary changes to their systems.
However, if Congress allowed a second round of stimulus checks, the Treasury Department would essentially just have to “push a button and [the stimulus checks] would be in people’s bank accounts, they will have that money before the end of the year, ”said Claudia Sahm, a former Federal Reserve economist.
That’s because the Treasury Department, in the first round of stimulus checks, already adhered to a “master file” of information of all Americans eligible for a check, Sahm said, based on conversations that she had had with officials from the department.
A proposed bipartisan stimulus package calls for a 16-week extension of the two CARES law programs that expire on December 26. She is also asking for $ 300 a week in enhanced unemployment benefits that unemployed Americans would receive in addition to their unemployment status. benefits for 16 weeks, starting at the end of that month.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said on Friday he was “even more optimistic now than I was last night that a bipartisan, bicameral framework for a major bailout is very near.
On Thursday, the Kentucky Republican said it was “highly likely” that lawmakers would have to work over the weekend to finalize a stimulus package.
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