Unemployment Insurance Extension Advances to Final Passage in Senate
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iStock/Thinkstock(WASHINGTON) — The Senate voted to advance a measure Thursday which would reauthorize benefits for the long-term unemployed for five months.
The Senate voted 61-35 to approve a temporary extension of unemployment insurance. The measure is now attached as an amendment to the Protecting Volunteer Firefighters and Emergency Responders Act. Final passage is expected to occur on Monday.
Last month, a bipartisan group of senators struck a deal to provide benefits for two million Americans for five months, starting with retroactive payments dating back to Dec. 28.
The proposal is paid for with a combination of offsets, including extending “pensions smoothing” provisions included in the 2012 highway bill, and by extending customs users fees through 2024. The bill also includes an offset which would allow single-employer pension plans to prepay flat rate premiums. Additionally, the bill would end unemployment insurance payments to those who made $1 million or more in the previous year.
The measure is expected to pass on Monday, but it faces an uncertain fate in the House of Representatives. House Speaker John Boehner has not committed to moving the measure forward.
“I made clear that if we’re going to consider dealing with unemployment — emergency unemployment, we ought to do something about creating better jobs in America, higher wages in America,” Boehner said last month. “The Senate is sitting on dozens of bills that we’ve sent over there.”
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