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- Democratic senators on Tuesday introduced a plan to restore federal unemployment benefit to $ 600.
- The plan would be retroactive from September 5 and would run until October 2021.
- He was sponsored by Senators Chuck Schumer, Ron Wyden, Michael Bennet, Jack Reed and Sherrod Brown.
- Visit the Business Insider homepage for more stories.
Senate Democrats laid out a plan Tuesday to restore federal unemployment benefit to $ 600, signaling their priorities as congressional debates pass another round of economic relief before the end of the year.
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer of New York, Senator Ron Wyden of Oregon, Senator Sherrod Brown of Ohio, Senator Michael Bennet of Colorado and Senator Jack Reed of Rhode Island are sponsoring the legislation. It is separate from the $ 908 billion coronavirus relief package that a group of bipartisan senators unveiled earlier on Tuesday.
“The road to recovery will be long, especially for workers in the hardest-hit service industries, be it bars, restaurants, events or tourism,” Wyden said in a statement. hurry. “In recognition of this painful reality, our bill links relief programs to economic conditions on the ground.”
The proposal would renew the weekly federal benefit until October 2021, making it retroactive from September 5. It was around the same date that President Donald Trump’s temporary unemployment assistance program expired.
It would also extend the pandemic unemployment assistance program for on-demand workers and freelancers in all states until the three-month national average unemployment rate falls below 5.5%. Up to 9.1 million people currently receive these benefits, nearly half of all people receiving some form of unemployment assistance, according to the Labor Ministry.
State unemployment programs generally provide around 26 weeks of benefits, although some states like Florida provide significantly less at 12 weeks. The Democratic proposal would extend state payments for an additional 39 weeks above the amount they already provide. It’s currently 13 weeks of an economic aid package that Congress passed earlier this year.
The plan comes as Congress faces increasing pressure to adopt another relief plan before the end of the year. About 12 million Americans are expected to lose all of their unemployment aid next month, and many have already exhausted it.
But it is unlikely to become law given the GOP’s fierce resistance to renewing benefits at this level. The Conservatives claim that payments make people stop working.
Many economists have long urged Congress to adopt yet another economic aid package to support individuals and businesses as the recovery shows signs of weakness. Unemployment claims have increased in the past two weeks as coronavirus cases increase across the country, forcing states to renew their restrictions and encourage people to stay at home.
Janet Yellen, the former chairman of the Federal Reserve, called on both sides to act quickly on another round of economic aid on Tuesday.
“It is essential that we act urgently,” Yellen said in his first speech as President-elect Joe Biden’s candidate for treasury secretary. “Inaction will produce a self-reinforcing recession causing even more devastation.”
Read more: HSBC says it is buying these 31 global stocks which are exposed to the biggest technological disruptions of the pandemic and which are expected to become growth engines of the future
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