The House voted 274-137 today to approve legislation that would extend unemployment benefit insurance for up to 26 weeks after failing to pass the measure Wednesday under an expedited procedure. The legislation would provide 13 weeks of unemployment benefits in every state to workers who exhaust the 26 weeks of regular unemployment benefits. In states with higher levels of unemployment, an additional 13 weeks would be available, for a total of 26 weeks of extended benefits. Democrats failed to clear the two-thirds hurdle and President Bush has threatened to veto the measure.
The vote follows an attempt by House Democratic leaders to pass the measure Wednesday under suspension of the rules, which requires a two-thirds majority for approval. The measure fell three votes shy of that threshold. During today's debate, Republicans said the measure would change long-standing policy by removing a requirement that workers must have worked for at least 20 weeks before being eligible for the benefits. They also insisted that the legislation violates pay-go rules, which requires offsetting new mandatory spending. Rep. Jerry Weller, R-Ill., raised a point of order that the bill violated pay-go, but lost on a 217-185 vote.
Democrats said that the cost of the bill -- scored at $11.7 billion over 10 years by CBO -- would be covered by a dedicated trust fund paid into by workers to cover unemployment insurance. They argued that the plight of unemployed workers is an emergency and should not be held to the pay/go standard. The House measure is similar to a provision included in the war supplemental spending package approved by the Senate last month. But House Democratic leaders wanted try to pass unemployment insurance as a stand-alone bill as a way to tamp down the package's cost and garner additional Republican support.
House Speaker Pelosi today noted the potential for including the unemployment extension in the pending Iraq war spending bill if it fails to pass the Senate as a stand-alone bill. "Hopefully we can get the unemployment insurance freestanding," Pelosi said. "We'll see and make a judgment after that (on including unemployment insurance)." With House Democratic leaders hoping to hold a vote on the supplemental next week, Pelosi stressed that negotiations between Appropriations Chairman David Obey and the White House are continuing and that Democrats are looking to bring a package to the floor that President Bush will sign. "That will happen before the Fourth of July," said Pelosi. Senate Majority Leader Reid said today that he would try to get the 60 votes required to ensure Senate consideration of the House bill despite expectations that it is not possible. But failing that, he said, he would look to the Iraq war bill as the legislative vehicle.
This article appeared in the Saturday, June 14, 2008 edition of National Journal Daily.
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