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It’s deja vu for jobless Americans.
Approximately 11.4 million Americans will be cut off from receiving unemployment benefits between March 14 and April 11, according to a report published last month by the liberal-leaning Century Foundation.
As that deadline nears, it’s inevitable that some of these Americans will experience a lapse in benefits regardless of if/when lawmakers pass legislation to reinstate unemployment benefits, said Andrew Stettner, a senior fellow at the Century Foundation.
“ Congress is again staring down an unemployment cliff for millions of workers. ”
“Congress is again staring down an unemployment cliff for millions of workers, but this time there’s broad consensus on the need to navigate around major procedural barriers to get it done in time,” he said. “But this routine is getting old fast.”
“Serious delays will be avoided by getting it done and signed by early next week,” he added.
Some 12 million Americans almost faced a similar fate at the end of last year while Democratic and Republican lawmakers finalized a stimulus package that was ultimately signed into law on Dec. 27.
Out-of-work Americans have been receiving unemployment benefits through two CARES Act programs — the Pandemic Unemployment Assistance (PUA) program and Pandemic Emergency Unemployment Compensation (PEUC).
The PUA program allowed self-employed workers, freelancers, gig workers and independent contractors to collect unemployment benefits. It helps those who have exhausted their state unemployment aid.
Jobless Americans face deadline
Some 6.4 million Americans will stop receiving PUA benefits by April 11, according to the report written by Elizabeth Pancotti, a policy adviser at the pro-worker advocacy group Employ America, and Stettner.
“While the COVID-19 vaccination program has started in earnest, it is not widespread enough to allow for broadscale re-opening of the economy,” Pancotti and Stettner wrote. “Thus the millions of jobless workers who are currently relying on unemployment benefits will need more aid before they are rehired.”
In addition to $600 stimulus checks, the December stimulus package extended PUA and other CARES Act unemployment programs to mid-March, and reinstated enhanced unemployment benefits to $300 extra a week to mid-March.
“ Biden’s proposal calls for extending Pandemic Unemployment Assistance and Pandemic Emergency Unemployment Compensation. ”
On Saturday, House lawmakers passed President Joe Biden’s $1.9-trillion stimulus package proposal that calls for increasing the enhanced benefits to $400 per week through September. Biden’s proposal calls for extending Pandemic Unemployment Assistance and Pandemic Emergency Unemployment Compensation through September.
Several Republican senators are not onboard with Biden’s stimulus package proposal which also calls for $1,400 stimulus checks for individuals and $350 billion in aid to state and local governments.
On top of this some Democratic senators are also working on a revised version of Biden’s stimulus package proposal that would reallocate some of the $350 billion towards direct economic relief measures, the Washington Post reported.
Last month, a group of 10 centrist Republican senators proposed a counter stimulus package that called for keeping the $300 per week through the end of June. Unlike Biden’s proposal, it would not extend PUA and PEUC.
It’s unclear if Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer will schedule a vote on the Republican counter stimulus-package proposal. As of Monday, there aren’t any public stand-alone proposals to extended unemployment benefits and reinstate enhanced benefits.
However, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I., Vt.) and Sen. Ron Wyden (D., Ore.) reportedly abandoned a proposal to tax corporations that don’t pay at least $15 an hour to employees so they could focus on averting the looming unemployment benefits cliff, New York Times reporter Emily Cochrane tweeted on Sunday.
