WASHINGTON, DC – A bipartisan group of 10 senators, including U.S. Sen. Cory Booker, sponsored legislation today to reauthorize emergency unemployment insurance (UI) benefits for five months. Led by U.S. Sens. Jack Reed (D-RI) and Dean Heller (R-NV), the bill is co-sponsored by Booker and U.S. Sens. Jeff Merkley (D-OR), Sherrod Brown (D-OH), Dick Durbin (D-IL), Susan Collins (R-ME), Rob Portman (R-OH), Lisa Murkowski (R-AK), and Mark Kirk (R-IL). The bill will boost the economy and allow for retroactive payments to eligible beneficiaries going back to December 28th.
For months, Booker has worked to underscore the urgency of extending the program and to highlight the plight of long-term jobless New Jerseyans cut off from vital aid. During the fight to renew UI, Booker crisscrossed New Jersey – from River Edge to Middle Township – to talk directly with people affected by Congress’s inaction: meeting with residents in their homes, in employment centers, food pantries and diners. More than 2,000 people contacted his office to share their stories and push for an extension, while 1.8 million people read about the effort to reinstate extended unemployment insurance on Booker’s Twitter and Facebook feeds. More than 100,000 people directly engaged in the conversation with Senator Booker about the issue.
“I am extremely pleased that a deal has finally been reached to extend unemployment insurance for the millions of long-term unemployed Americans, including more than 100,000 New Jerseyans, who were cut off from extended unemployment insurance in December,” Booker said. “Today’s announcement is a credit to Senate leadership and especially to Senator Reed, who was able to keep the negotiations alive, while preventing attempts to undermine this vital program.
“The journey to the compromise on unemployment insurance has been a long and challenging one. I am grateful to courageous New Jerseyans who fearlessly shared their stories and who inspired me to use every resource at my disposal to keep the fight going and to keep the discussion alive, even when the prospects seemed dim. I look forward to Senate passage of this legislation and to building on this bipartisan proposal by working with my colleagues to support policies that help create new jobs and expand opportunity. Today, my hope is restored in our ability to work together to find solutions that help the American people.”
This new legislation seeks to strengthen the U.S. economy while providing vulnerable job seekers and their families with a vital lifeline as they continue to look for work. The proposal is fully paid-for using a combination of offsets that includes extending “pension smoothing” provisions from the 2012 highway bill (MAP-21), which were set to phase out this year, and extending customs user fees through 2024. The bill also includes an additional offset allowing single-employer pension plans to prepay their flat rate premiums to the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (PBGC).
Further, the legislation includes a provision modeled on Senator Tom Coburn’s (R-OK) and Jon Tester’s (D-MT) language that ends unemployment insurance payments to any individual whose adjusted gross income in the preceding year was $1 million or more. According to 2010 income tax data, there were 0.03 percent of filers that earned more than $1 million and received some form of UI at either the state or federal level. This provision received unanimous support in the Senate when it was voted on in 2011.
The legislative proposal also includes language championed by Senator Susan Collins (R-ME) to strengthen reemployment and eligibility assessment (REA) and ReEmployment Services (RES) programs. In an effort to help get job seekers back into the workforce, individuals receiving emergency unemployment compensation will be eligible for enhanced, personalized assessments and referrals to reemployment services when they begin their 27th week of UI (Tier I) and 55th week of UI (Tier III).