White House Supports Bill that Extends Unemployment Benefits
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The Obama administration declared Tuesday its support for legislation that provides additional weeks of unemployment benefits to Americans hit by rising joblessness, the NY Times reported.
"Helping unemployed workers is an effective way to boost the economy and an important part of the administration's broader efforts to move swiftly and aggressively to jump start job creation and grow our economy," the White House said in a statement.
The bill will extend jobless benefits to nearly 2 million people and has been approved by the House, Reuters reported.
Senate Republicans, at odds with Democrats over what amendments they can offer to the bill, have blocked Senate consideration, the AP reported. The Senate is expected to begin taking up amendments on Wednesday.
The legislation would provide 14 weeks in extra financial aid for everyone exhausting their benefits by the end of the year, and another six weeks for those living in 27 states where the unemployment rate is at least 8.5 percent, the AP reported.
A proposal by Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., and Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus, D-Mont., would extend an $8,000 tax credit through March 31, the AP reported. The value of the credit would then drop to $6,000, $4,000 and then $2,000 over the next three quarters. Another idea would extend the tax credit to home buyers who already own homes, as long as they have been in those homes for at least seven years.
"A positive GDP is not the answer for people who are looking for work unsuccessfully," Senator Jack Reed (D-R.I) told the AP. "They need the benefits of extended unemployment compensation."
The extended benefits would be paid for by dedicating money from the federal unemployment tax, a payroll tax companies pay for individual employees, the AP reported.
