| 3.23.22

Extending- Emergency Unemployment Benefits (S. 1845)

Do you support or oppose this bill?

What is S. 1845?

(Updated September 28, 2020)

This legislation would extend emergency unemployment insurance benefits for the long-term unemployed. The Emergency Unemployment Compensation (EUC) program would be continued for three additional months.

The EUC program helps qualified states offer up to 47 additional weeks of federally funded unemployment compensation to people who have exhausted their regular unemployment benefits. S. 1845 would also extend funding for re-employment services and eligibility assessment initiatives.

Argument in favor

Long-term unemployment is prevalent across all demographic groups — this bill would save 3.1 million people from losing their benefits and create thousands of jobs in the next year.

Argument opposed

The longer that someone is out of a job, the less likely that they are to find employment. Long-term unemployment hurts the economy, and fosters higher unemployment rates overall.

Impact

People who have exhausted or are in danger of exhausting their unemployment benefits, local re-employment programs and other service providers for the unemployed, and the Emergency Unemployment Compensation program.

Cost of S. 1845

A CBO cost estimate found that implementing S. 1845 would cost 6,400 million over the 2014-2018 period.

Additional Info

Of Note:

A press release from Rep. Dan Kildee (D-MI) (who is sponsoring an almost identical bill) notes in support of these initiatives:

"In December 2013, Congress failed to extend emergency unemployment benefits, forcing 1.3 million Americans to lose access to their federal unemployment insurance. The number of Americans without their eligible benefits has subsequently grown to 3.1 million."