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- Jan 7, 2014
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The Senate got this through late last night so that the House could vote on it before they leave today. Will the House take up the bill or do they believe there are greater priorities to America? They could of taken it up first thing this morning instead they took up H.R. 4015 instead. I just put a post in another threat about that one.
Senate reaches bipartisan deal to extend unemployment benefits - The Washington Post
By Paul Kane, Published: March 13
Senate reaches bipartisan deal to extend unemployment benefits - The Washington Post
By Paul Kane, Published: March 13
Senate negotiators struck a bipartisan deal Thursday that would renew federal unemployment benefits for the long-term jobless, allowing for retroactive payments to go to more than 2 million Americans whose benefits expired in late December.
Ten senators, evenly divided among Democrats and Republicans, announced the pact and set up a timeline in which the legislation could pass the Senate in late March.
Its outcome in the House remains up in the air, however. Speaker John A. Boehner (R-Ohio), who has opposed previous Senate plans as insufficient in providing offsetting cuts, did not offer a statement on the new proposal.
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The roughly $10 billion cost of the renewed federal jobless benefits would be offset by extending fees on goods coming through U.S. Customs and an alteration to the way corporations contribute to pensions, the senators announced.
In addition, the legislation will include two changes to the unemployment program, one of which will require more job training for long-term jobless workers in order to continue receiving insurance benefits. Also, the legislation includes a provision that eliminates state or federal unemployment benefits for laid-off workers whose gross income the previous year topped $1 million which, according to federal estimates, represented 0.03 percent of all recipients.
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Additionally, with Congress otherwise gridlocked on how to boost the economy, unemployment insurance payments represented one of the only forms of stimulus that the federal government is providing as job creation remains stagnant.