Proposed Bill Ties Boosted Unemployment Benefits to Jobless Rate

How much extra compensation an unemployed worker receives would be tied to the state’s jobless rate under a proposed bill introduced Wednesday.

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., and Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., proposed the new bill, Politico reports.

Under the proposal, the extra $600 a week awarded to unemployed people during the coronavirus pandemic would be phased out in stages in each state as the unemployment rate drops below 11%. Each percentage point drop in the rate, based on a three-month average, would correspond to a $100 decrease in the boosted weekly benefits.

The bill would allow some additional benefit to be paid out in states until the unemployment rate drops below 6%.

In addition, Americans out of work would continue to receive 13 weeks of extended benefits awarded under the CARES Act until March 27, 2021. Then, the extension would be phased out as a state’s unemployment rate drops from 8.5% to 5.5%.

The proposal would keep and even increase the extension in states where unemployment is above 8.5%.

Gig workers and others who are not typically eligible to receive unemployment would have their unemployment benefits extended through March, 2021. Their benefits would also correlate to states’ unemployment levels.

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