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Millions Of Americans Lose Benefits After Congress Disagrees On Stimulus Bill

This is also after 2 funding programs recently expired on December 26th.

By BuzzwordPublished 3 years ago 3 min read
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Congress recently, on December 26th, failed to meet President Donald Trump’s request for $2,000 stimulus checks to be added to the pandemic relief bill passed by both chambers last week.

It's been estimated by The Century Foundation (TCF), around 12 million Americans lost unemployment benefits when two programs expired yesterday, which funded the initial pandemic relief measure pass by Congress.

TCF believed about 7.3 million people lost their benefits from the Pandemic Unemployment Assistance (PUA) program, which gave taxpayer-funded unemployment checks to gig workers and other people who not eligible for regular benefits.

Another 4.6 million Americans lost benefits upon the termination of the Pandemic Emergency Unemployment Compensation (PEUC) program, which provided benefit funding for people on long-term unemployment with federal taxpayer dollars, according to the estimate by TCF.

Of the estimated 4.6 million who lost their PEUC benefits, 2.9 million can still seek Extended Benefits (EB), which is a federal program passed in 1970 that provides between six and 20 weeks of benefits. The benefits are different between each individual states unemployment rates and laws.

Because of the disagreements from both chambers of congress over the relief package, it's assumed by the end of the year, a total of 16 million people will have lost benefits.

Americans who lose their jobs are eligible for state unemployment benefits for up to 26 weeks, which can vary state to state. Once their state benefits end, people can apply for and receive PEUC benefits for 13 weeks and EB benefits for 13 to 20 weeks. In certain states with shorter durations of benefits, like Florida for example, people that exhaust EB benefits can receive unemployment checks through PUA for 39 to 46 weeks.

Gig workers and others who are ineligible for standard unemployment can only receive PUA benefits and cannot apply for other programs once the benefits have been exhausted.

President Donald Trump made a video announcement on December 22nd claiming the $2.3 trillion omnibus spending bill contained wasteful provisions for foreign governments and demanded more money for American taxpayers effected by the pandemic.

In the video, Trump said “Congress found plenty of money for foreign countries, lobbyists, and special interests - While sending the bare minimum to the American people who need it.” He added “The bill they are now planning to send back to my desk is much different than anticipated. It really is a disgrace.”

The President indicated he would block the bill unless Congress removed billions in spending that was meant to go to foreign nations and domestic institutions. He called for at least $2,000 payments for individual taxpayers, a significant increase from the original $600 approved in the bill passed by the House and the Senate.

“I am asking Congress to amend this bill and increase the ridiculously low $600 to $2,000, or $4,000 for a couple,” Trump also claimed “I am also asking Congress to get rid of the unnecessary and wasteful items in this legislation.”

Several high level Democrats supported Trump’s request for the increased $2,000 checks, but disregarded his demands to remove other spending items from the bill, like giving $10 million for gender programs in Pakistan. The bill failed to pass with unanimous consent after lawmakers within both chambers had disagreements with each other.

Trump could directly veto the bill or let it expire due to Congress, since Congress has to adjourn on Jan. 3, which would result in what is called a pocket veto. The president could also end up signing the bill despite his criticism of it, or approve a revised version of the bill if Congress approves a better one.

In addition to the COVID-19 virus relief, the omnibus spending bill would fund the government until September next year. The deadline to extend the funding is on Tuesday, Dec. 29.

politics
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