Senator Cory Booker is cosponsoring S. 2149, the bipartisan bill to extend unemployment insurance for long-term jobseekers, along with Senators Jack Reed (D-RI), Dean Heller (R-NV), Susan Collins (R-ME), Jeff Merkley (D-OR), Rob Portman (R-OH), Sherrod Brown (D-OH), Lisa Murkowski (R-AK), Dick Durbin (D-IL), and Mark Kirk (R-IL).
The legislation would reauthorize emergency unemployment insurance (UI) for five months and allow for retroactive payments to eligible beneficiaries going back to December 28th.
The proposal is fully paid for using a combination of offsets which includes extending "pension smoothing" provisions from the 2012 highway bill (MAP-21) previously 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 repay their flat-rate premiums to the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (PBGC).
The legislation includes a provision ending federal unemployment insurance payments for any individual whose gross income in the preceeding year was $1 million or more. The U.S. Department of Labor estimates that 2.79 million Americans will be eligible for UI benefits under the plan, including 144,000 New Jerseyans.
