More than 6 million Americans will run out of unemployment benefits starting in January if Congress doesn’t move, with 1.8 million of those in January alone. President Obama’s American Jobs Act would have extended the deadline to file for another year of benefits, but the Jobs Act was axed!
The Senate on Tuesday soundly defeated President Obama’s $447 billion jobs plan by refusing to let it come up for a vote.
The jobs package was blocked by the chamber’s Republican minority, led by Sen. Mitch McConnell. They were joined by two Democrats, Sens. Ben Nelson of Nebraska and Jon Tester of Montana. Several more Democrats said they would vote against the package itself.
As a result, the White House and Democratic leaders must resort to Plan B: voting on individual parts of the jobs plan, such as payroll tax cuts, unemployment benefits and construction spending.
The $44 billion unemployment extension, which enjoys some bipartisan support, could potentially be separated from Obama’s plan or tacked onto another bill in order to get passed before the end of the year.
Right now, the unemployed can receive federal benefits for up to 73 weeks after first receiving 26 weeks of state benefits. If the extension doesn’t pass, those whose state benefits end in early January won’t be able to apply for federal benefits; in addition, those receiving federal benefits will not be able to advance to the next “tier” of benefits. Federal emergency benefits have been increased or extended eight times since they began in June 2008, and some believed the most recent 13-month extension would be the final one.
