Title: New Coronavirus Stimulus Proposal Would Extend $600 Unemployment Checks, Give More Workers Benefits
Headings: New Coronavirus Stimulus Proposal Would Extend $600 Unemployment Checks, Give More Workers Benefits
New Coronavirus Stimulus Proposal Would Extend $600 Unemployment Checks, Give More Workers Benefits
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Content: Without this extension, unemployment bonus payments are set to expire on July 31. Newsweek Newsletter sign-up >
A separate CARES Act program providing regular unemployment benefits to individuals not otherwise eligible, which expires after 39 weeks, would be extended to cover the entire extreme social distancing period and at least six months afterward. Another program that provides an additional 13 weeks of compensation to individuals who have already exhausted their regular benefits would be extended throughout the social distancing period plus at least six months, as well. "In the face of an historic crisis, the federal government must take extraordinary steps to give the American people sustained help and prevent this economic downturn from becoming a depression," Congressman Don Beyer, the vice chairman of the Joint Economic Committee and expected sponsor of the Worker Relief and Security Act in the House, said in a news release Tuesday. " Passing emergency relief legislation that incorporates automatic triggers would have the enormous benefit of ensuring assistance continues to flow to workers even if Congress itself is unable or unwilling to act." Newsweek subscription offers >
The proposed legislation would move to expand the scenarios under which an individual not traditionally eligible for unemployment can still earn weekly benefits. The new situations would include people under self-quarantine because they live with someone who is immunocompromised, people who have stayed home to care for elderly family members and adults finishing school who cannot find work. Democratic Senators Jack Reed of Rhode Island and Michael Bennet of Colorado are developing the Senate's version of the bill. In the Worker Relief and Security Act, CARES Act unemployment benefits would continue after the six-month extension, tapering off at different rates depending on the severity of the unemployment crisis in a particular state. Workers receiving either of the expanded-eligibility or exhausted-eligibility benefits in states that have low unemployment rates could continue to earn these benefits for up to 13 weeks beyond the six-month extension.