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According to an article appearing in today's edition of SFGate, the online publication of The San Francisco Chronicle, Kathleen Pender looks at "4 stimulus breaks due to run out at year end" -- and their prospects for renewal.
These include beefed-up unemployment benefits, the sales tax deduction for new-vehicle purchases, a federal subsidy for COBRA health-insurance premiums and the $8,000 first-time home-buyer credit.
Specificallly of interest to the unemployed:
Unemployment: The stimulus act increased the weekly unemployment benefit by $25 per week, allowed people to deduct up to $2,400 in benefits on their federal tax return and extended the federal government's extended benefits program, which provides additional compensation to people who have used up their regular state benefits.
The first and second extensions were supposed to expire in the spring but the stimulus extended them until December 31, 2009. The stimulus also provided 100 percent federal funding for a third extension.
All these federal benefits sunset after December 31, 2009. A person who was already receiving extended benefits on January 1, 2010, could finish that round of benefits, but not start the next extension. A person who was still receiving their regular state benefits on January 1, 2010, would get no extended benefits.
HR3404, sponsored by Rep. Jim McDermott, D-Wash., would extend all of the expiring provisions through 2010. It also would create a fourth extension of up to 13 weeks for people in high-unemployment states.
To help people who will receive their last check in the next few months, McDermott plans to put the fourth extension into a separate bill and focus on passing that quickly. The rest will go into another bill, says Mike DeCesare, McDermott's press secretary.
Sen. Jack Reed, D-R.I., has introduced a similar bill, S1647.
Cobra subsidy: Workers who are terminated between September 1, 2008, and December 31, 2009, and are eligible to stay in their group health plan at their own expense under the law known as COBRA can get the government to pay 65 percent of their premium for up to nine months, as long as they are not eligible for Medicare or any other group health plan.
People who started getting the subsidy when it became available March 1, 2009, run out after November 2009. People who are still getting the subsidy at year end can continue until it's used up. But people who get laid off after December 31, 2009 won't get any subsidy.
There are no bills to extend the subsidy, but it's likely to come up.
The subsidy "was supposed to be a bridge to get us to health care reform," says Maya MacGuineas, president of the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget. "If health care doesn't get fixed, maybe they will keep this Cobra subsidy in place."
To read the complete article go to:
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2009/09/05/BU5G19IBLT.DTL&type=business
Congress looks to avoid overload as new session begins
In "Congress looks to avoid overload as new session begins," an article in today's online edition of the Washington Examiner -- Chief Congressional Correspondent Susan Ferrechio reports that when Congress gavels back in session today, lawmakers will be focused mainly on the effort to pass a major health care reform bill by the end of the year.
But other big issues await the House and the Senate, including:
- an unemployment rate that has grown from 9.4 percent to 9.7 percent since they left for the summer recess
- new estimates that show the national debt will grow by $9 trillion in the next decade
- possible request from the White House for more money to fund a major troop increase in Afghanistan that the military has signaled it wants
- a major global warming bill that is also a top Democratic priority, and
- a package of bills aimed at overhauling financial industry regulations that Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner has requested by the end of the year.
Specifically on jobless claims, the article reports:
Summer backlash over the health care bill was coupled with public anger over the $787 billion stimulus package, which did little to produce the jobs promised when Congress approved it in February. August's unemployment figures have only stoked criticism that the stimulus has done little to help the problem, though Democrats are arguing that the jobs numbers are lagging behind an otherwise improving economy.
While some Democrats, including top Obama aides, have speculated that a second stimulus may be needed to boost the economy, Democratic leaders know they will have a nearly impossible time finding the votes to pass it.
Instead, Congress will consider an extension of unemployment benefits that are set to expire. A Democratic leadership aide said top lawmakers in the House will "look at the numbers as well as other economic news" this week before deciding whether to take up an extension bill.
The text of the full article can be viewed at:
Congress looks to avoid overload as new session begins | Washington Examiner (http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/politics/Congress-looks-to-avoid-overload-as-new-session-begins-8210552-57656817.html - broken link)
Senate Committee Meeting Set to Discuss Unemployment
A meeting has been scheduled on September 15 for the Finance Committee of the U.S. Senate to discuss the issue of Unemployment -- basically a review of the numbers.
No specific discussions scheduled so far in the House to discuss HR 3404 (McDermott's proposed bill) or in the Senate to discuss S1647 (Reed's proposed bill).
In response to direct calls for help by Americans from across the country, Rep. Jim McDermott (D-WA) introduced new streamlined legislation today, HR 3548, to extend unemployment insurance benefits for an additional 13 weeks in states where unemployment has averaged at least 8.5% over the last three months.
The remaining elements of the comprehensive legislation introduced in July will be re-introduced in the near future as a separate bill.
As currently drafted, HR 3548 would extend unemployment benefits by up to 13 weeks for over 300,000 jobless in high unemployment States (8.5% unemployment) and who are projected to run out of unemployment compensation by the end of September (and for over one million workers otherwise exhausting benefits before the end of the year).
Over three-quarters of the workers projected to exhaust their unemployment benefits by September live in high unemployment States that would now qualify for an additional 13 weeks of benefits under the bill. These high unemployment States are: AL, AZ, CA, DC, FL, GA, IL, IN, KY, MA, MI, MS, MO, NV, NJ, NC, NY, OH, OR, PA, PR, RI, SC, TN, WA, WI & WV.
To read McDermott's full statement, go to:
Congressman Jim McDermott - News (http://www.house.gov/mcdermott/pr090910.shtml - broken link)
Thank you again diorgirl you are likely helping thousands of us keep updated on this critical issue for our lives. Your efforts and those who contribute positively here are all greatly appreciated. Does anyone have a link to the wording of the streamlined bill? I keep hearing "those who will be losing their insurance in Sept". I am in the boat with those who ran out in the end of Aug.
Does anyone have a link to the wording of the streamlined bill?
I've been unable to locate the text of HR 3548. McDemott's website has only major highlights, not the full text. The congressional sites have not yet posted the text either. It should be available shortly.
The Dow Jones Newswires has filed a report on the hearing held today of the Senate Finance Committee, which would have jurisdiction over any extension of unemployment insurance coverage. During the session, economists and labor market experts advised lawmakers how to tackle the continuing weak U.S. jobs market.
One of these, Beth Shulman, chairman of the National Employment Law Project (NELP), said Congress should act immediately to extend benefits for 10 to 20 weeks.
Sens. Richard Durbin, D-Ill., and Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., said they hoped the Senate would act quickly to extend federal government support for people across the country unable to find a job, and not just those who live in states with the highest unemployment rates as some have suggested. Durbin and Schumer are the second and third most senior Senate Democrats after Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev.
Durbin said he also favored an extension of federal government subsidies to people whose health insurance disappeared when they lost their jobs to help them continue to afford medical coverage.
While numerous other Senate and House lawmakers have voiced support for an extension of federal benefits for the unemployed this fall, details have yet to emerge over what type of extension is being considered, or how quickly they might act.
Senate Committee Meeting Set to Discuss Unemployment/More
The Detroit News online reported that at the end of today's hearing of the Senate Finance Committee -- to look at options to deal with 1.4 million unemployed workers who face receiving their last unemployment check at the end of the year -- Sen. Max Baucus, chairman of that Committee, commented: "We are going to act in the best way we possibly can."
A Senate bill [S.1647] would extend unemployment benefits through December 2010, plus give unemployed workers in states with jobless rates of at least 8.5 percent an additional 13 weeks.
But there was debate over the wisdom of an extension among the experts at the hearing, and the senators on the committee also differed on what the effect of paying out benefits for such a long time can be on an economy trying to recover.
Sen. Jim Bunning, R-Ky., asked, "When will it end?"
Critics, such as Bunning and Karen Campbell, a macroeconomic policy analyst at the Heritage Foundation, said the government should instead look at job-creating policies.
Bunning, a former pitcher for the Detroit Tigers, argued the problem is the long-term unemployed don't have the right skills for today's jobs.
Campbell pointed to research showing that unemployed workers spend less time looking for jobs until just before their benefits run out, meaning an extension could delay tough decisions, such as moving or upgrading job skills.
Rep. Sander Levin, D-Mich, said in an interview that leaders in the House of Representatives will meet Wednesday to decide the next steps. Levin, a senior member of the House Ways and Means Committee, is pushing for the 13 additional weeks. "We hope very much there will be action by the end of the month," he said. Levin expects the House will first deal with the additional 13 weeks for hard hit states, then separately deal with extending the programs through 2010.
Twenty-two U.S. governors have sent letters to Congressional leaders asking them to approve the extension.
To read the full article in the Detroit news, go to:
Senator promises quick action on extending unemployment benefits | detnews.com | The Detroit News (http://www.detnews.com/article/20090915/POLITICS03/909150400/1408/local/Senator-promises-quick-action-on-extending-unemployment-benefits - broken link)
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Congress looks to avoid overload as new session begins
