REPRESENTING BUSINESS ISSUES
Wyden, Merkley Urge Extension of Pandemic Unemployment Programs in COVID-19 Relief Package Letter comes as lifeline unemployment benefits set to expire December 26 for nearly 12 million workers December 1, 2020 | Washington, D.C. U .S. Sens. Ron Wyden and Jeff Merkley today urged Senate leadership to include extensions of the Pandemic Unemployment Assistance (PUA) and the combined populations of Kentucky and Oregon) falling into poverty over the span of a few months,” the senators wrote. “To address the economic hardships workers are facing during this time, these programs should be extended with additional weeks of eligibility for workers.”
the Pandemic Emergency Unemployment Compensation (PEUC) programs in the next coronavirus relief package. Both of these programs are set to expire on Dec. 26,.Wyden and Merkley noted in their letter along with 30 other senators to Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer. “As the virus surges going into the winter months, the loss of benefits at this time is particularly cruel,” the senators wrote. “A recent report from The Century Foundation suggests that nearly 12 million workers could lose coverage once these programs expire over the holiday. In other words, roughly 12 million American workers will lose benefits this season for a job they lost through no fault of their own.” “For many, the knowledge of this benefits cliff will hang over them while they celebrate Christmas morning, share a meal for Christmas dinner, or observe other holidays with their families in the middle of what has already been a difficult and tragic year,” they wrote. “Those who are socially distancing from their families for their safety as well as the nation’s overall public health will likely experience this loss of federal financial assistance entirely alone.” The senators noted that Congress created the PUA program to help workers who wouldn’t normally be eligible for unemployment assistance such as domestic workers, freelance workers, contractors, and other workers in alternative work arrangements. Similarly, recognizing that most regular state unemployment programs provide only 26 weeks of coverage for workers (with some states providing as few as 12 weeks), Congress also created the PEUC program to extend unemployment benefits to the long-term unemployed who exhaust their regular unemployment benefits. “Since May, researchers have found that roughly 8 million Americans have slipped into poverty. That is the equivalent of the entire population of Virginia or Washington (as well as
Besides Wyden and Merkley, other senators signing the letter include Sens. Mark Warner ((D-VA), Michael Bennet (D-CO), Chris Coons (D-DE), Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY), Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI), Ben Cardin (D-MD), Bob Menendez (D-NJ), Kyrsten Sinema (D-AZ), Chris Van Hollen (D-MD), Dianne Feinstein (D-CA), Sherrod Brown (D-OH), Tim Kaine (D-VA), Ed Markey (D-MA), Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), Bernie Sanders (I-VT), Mazie Hirono (D-HI), Catherine Cortez Masto (D-NV), Dick Durbin (D-IL), Jack Reed (D-RI), Jacky Rosen (D-NV), Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), Bob Casey (D-PA), Maria Cantwell (D-WA), Cory Booker (D-NJ), Tina Smith (D-MN), Tammy Duckworth (D-IL), Debbie Stabenow (D-MI), Maggie Hassan (D-NH), and Angus King (I-ME). The entire letter is here and below. Dear Leader McConnell and Leader Schumer: As the Senate considers the next coronavirus relief package, we urge you to include extensions of the Pandemic Unemployment Assistance (PUA) program and the Pandemic Emergency Unemployment Compensation (PEUC) program. We also urge you to include additional weeks of benefits for both programs. Right now, there are more than twice the number of Americans participating in these two programs combined as there are in the regular state unemployment system.[1] These workers are all facing job loss that has nothing to do with their skills, abilities, or performance. Congress created these programs to patch up the holes in our social safety net during a global pandemic. Congress stood up the Pandemic Unemployment Assistance program to disburse benefits to workers who would normally not be eligible for unemployment
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The Business Review | December 2020
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