Summary and Background

In response to the worst economic and financial crises in generations, in February 2009, Senate and House Democrats sent the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (P.L. 111-5) to President Obama to be signed into law.  This landmark legislation included an increase of $25 billion in unemployment insurance payments and an extension of the term of coverage of unemployment insurance to ease the burdens of the suffering Americans hit hardest by the recession. 

Under current law, this emergency compensation, which began in July 2008 (P.L. 110-252), provides up to 20 weeks of unemployment benefits to certain workers who have exhausted their regular unemployment compensation benefits, with 13 additional weeks of coverage for workers in states with the highest unemployment rates.  The Recovery Act extended the program through December 26, 2009.

Eight months later, while economists agree that the nation is probably emerging from the recession, most also believe that new job creation usually lags behind increases in economic growth.  Meanwhile, nearly two million out-of work Americans are now face expiring unemployment benefits by the end of the year. 

Senate Majority Leader Reid, Senate Committee on Finance Chairman Baucus, and Senators Reed and Shaheen introduced a comprehensive proposal to extend unemployment insurance by up to 14 additional weeks for jobless workers across the nation.  This fully paid-for legislation would also extend benefits for six additional weeks in states with the highest unemployment levels. 

This legislation will be considered on the Senate floor as a substitute amendment (S.A. 2668) to similar legislation that was approved by the House (H.R.3548). 

Major Provisions

Emergency Unemployment Compensation

S.A. 2668 would:

• Extend unemployment insurance by up to 14 additional weeks for jobless workers; and

• Extend benefits for six additional weeks for workers in states with unemployment levels over 8.5 percent.

Additional Policies

S.A. 2668 would:

• Ensure that the additional $25 per week in unemployment insurance benefits provided by the Recovery Act do not count against a family’s eligibility for the Supplemental Nutritional Assistance Program, formerly known as food stamps;

• Update the Unemployment Insurance Modernization provisions in the Recovery Act to provide that victims of sexual assault who have left their jobs have a “compelling family reason” for benefits; and

• Specify that railroad workers who face expiring unemployment benefits will be eligible for the extension of benefits.

Offset

S.A. 2668, which is estimated to cost $2.4 billion, is fully offset by an extension of the Federal Unemployment Tax Act (FUTA) until June 30, 2011.

Legislative History

On September 10, 2009, Rep. McDermott introduced H.R.3548, the Unemployment Compensation Extension Act of 2009 in the House.  On September 22, the House passed H.R. 3548 by a vote of 331-83 (Roll no. 722). 

On October 8, 2009, the bill was placed on the Senate Legislative Calendar and Senators Reid, Baucus, Reed, and Hagan have submitted S.A. 2668, a substitute amendment to H.R.3548.  That day, Senate Minority Leader McConnell objected to a request that the legislation be approved by unanimous consent.

On October 21, Majority Leader Reid filed cloture on the motion to proceed to H.R.3548.  As of this writing, the Senate is expected to vote on this motion on Tuesday, October 27.

Amendments

The DPC will distribute information to our staff listservs on amendments as it becomes available.

Administration Position

As of this writing, the Administration has not issued a Statement of Administrative Policy with respect to either H.R.3548 or S.A. 2668.  The Administration has, however, indicated its strong support for the expansion of the UI benefits provided for in the Recovery Act.

Resources

Congressional Budget Office, Preliminary Estimate: Substitute Amendment to H.R. 3548 (October 8, 2009), available here.

Congressional Research Service, Temporary Extension of Unemployment Benefits: Emergency Unemployment Compensation, available here.

Congressional Research Service, Unemployment Insurance: Available Unemployment Benefits and Legislative Activity, available here.

Democratic Policy Committee, Legislative Bulletin:  H.R.1: the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, as amended (Modernization of Unemployment Compensation), available here.

Senate Committee on Finance, "Unemployment Insurance Benefits: Where Do We Go From Here?," Hearing Statements and Testimony, available here.

Estimated Number of Federal Extension Exhaustions, by State

Through September and December 2009

National Employment Law Project, August 2009

State	Total Exhaustions through September 2009	Total Exhaustions through December 2009
Alabama	0	37,794
Alaska	2,252	3,700
Arizona	5,142	22,632
Arkansas	5,076	8,273
California	68,713	154,328
Colorado	0	13,853
Connecticut	4,922	11,739
Delaware	0	3,518
District of Columbia	945	3,703
Florida	27,359	114,508
Georgia	13,844	58,887
Hawaii	2,774	5,456
Idaho	3,055	9,395
Illinois	20,266	50,028
Indiana	9,848	50,343
Iowa	19,845	30,914
Kansas	0	3,819
Kentucky	3,814	14,025
Louisiana	0	8,773
Maine	0	4,838
Maryland	15,650	25,681
Massachusetts	0	39,530
Michigan	25,534	62,753
Minnesota	6,776	13,754
Mississippi	12,895	19,109
Missouri	4,091	20,556
Montana	2,814	5,688
Nebraska	9,308	13,849
Nevada	5,041	14,135
New Hampshire	0	1,478
New Jersey	22,355	41,576
New Mexico	0	1,577
New York	0	89,662
North Carolina	15,033	32,171
North Dakota	3,187	4,195
Ohio	11,642	64,545
Oklahoma	0	5,943
Oregon	4,981	11,235
Pennsylvania	19,960	60,910
Puerto Rico	1,537	6,437
Rhode Island	2,489	4,483
South Carolina	13,775	21,852
South Dakota	954	1,543
Tennessee	8,299	32,788
Texas	0	48,596
Utah	10,731	18,226
Vermont	1,172	1,860
Virgin Islands	1,052	1,350
Virginia	0	12,877
Washington	4,628	10,455
West Virginia	0	3,756
Wisconsin	8,834	24,180
Wyoming	2,158	3,900