The clock is ticking on Capitol Hill, as talks between Republicans and Democratic lawmakers about a second package of stimuli are likely to last until the weekend. But regardless of the actions they take, some twelve million Americans will see a lapse in unemployment benefits soon.
These Americans include contract workers, self-employed and self-employed, as well as unemployed Americans who will exhaust the maximum number of weeks an individual can receive unemployment benefits in their state. In times of pre-pandemic, the self-employed, the self-employed and the self-employed were not eligible for unemployment benefits.
But through a CARES Act program known as Pandemic Unemployment Assistance, these workers earned $ 600 a week in federal unemployment benefits, which expire in July. They were also eligible for state unemployment benefits that were calculated based on their state’s average weekly unemployment benefits.
It is expected to expire on Dec. 31, but because state worker agencies usually pay unemployment benefits on Saturday, some 7.3 million Americans who have received benefits through the PUA program will receive their last checks on December 26, just one day after Christmas, according to a report by Andrew Stettner and Elizabeth Pancotti of the Century Liberal Foundation.
Another 4.65 million Americans will also see their profits fall to zero on the same day. These Americans received the approval of an additional 13 weeks of unemployment benefits through another CARES Act program, pandemic emergency unemployment compensation, after exhausting the number of weeks their states granted.
The California Department of Employment Development warned about 3 million Californians who should not expect to receive additional benefits after Dec. 26, “unless the U.S. Congress takes additional steps to expand them.” Alerts sent to claimants via email, text messages, and email also informed Californians of cash and food assistance programs.
In New York, some 1.4 million workers will stop receiving unemployment benefits in full on December 26, according to the Century Foundation report.
Unlike stimulus checks, which lawmakers plan to include in a second package of stimuli and which could be sent relatively quickly, although at half the size of the controls that were published in the April, state worker agencies need time to recalibrate their assistance systems to implement any changes.
For example, when President Donald Trump authorized the Federal Emergency Management Agency to use disaster relief funds to pay an extra $ 300 a week to some unemployed Americans, some state labor agencies went take months to make the necessary changes to your systems.
However, if Congress authorized a second round of stimulus checks, the Treasury Department would only have to “push a button and [the stimulus checks] they would be in people’s bank accounts, they will have that money before the end of the year, ”said Claudia Sahm, a Federal Reserve economist.
This is because the Treasury Department, during the first round of stimulus checks, already complied with a “main file” of information from all Americans who were eligible for a check, Sahm said. based on conversations he has had with department officials.
A bipartisan stimulus package proposal calls for a 16-week extension of the two CARES Act programs that will expire on December 26th. It also calls for $ 300 a week in improved unemployment benefits that unemployed Americans would receive in addition to their state unemployment. benefits for 16 weeks, from this end of the month.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said Friday that he is “even more optimistic than I did last night that a bipartisan, bicameral framework for a major bailout package is very close.”
On Thursday, the Kentucky Republican said it was “very likely” that lawmakers would have to work over the weekend to finalize a stimulus package.