2010 Unemployment Extensions - UI Extensions Expected to Pass in the Senate Today

2010 Unemployment Extensions - Now into their seventh week of deadlock over the unemployment benefits extension bill, the Senate is finally expected to take the first winning vote toward passage today.

Advancement of the unemployment extension bill will mean an incredible relief to the jobless, as over 2.5 million Americans have lost their unemployment benefits over the last month and a half, leaving many families on the brink of homelessness and starvation.

The UI extension bill has been stalled in the Senate as Democrats and Republicans argued over whether or not the bill should be paid for.

Senate Republicans maintain that the federal deficit has reached a level so high it has become dangerously detrimental to the health and survival of the country itself, contributing to the inability of the economy to begin to produce new jobs for the unemployed as concerned businesses are reticent to hire.

The Republicans presented several fiscally responsible bills and amendments as well as a number of compromise offers which either partially or fully paid for the unemployment benefits extensions, using varying combinations of unallocated funds from the failed 2009 "stimulus" package as well as targeted cuts to bloated and unnecessary government spending.

All of the Republican unemployment benefits extension proposals also included extending the $25 per week in FAC stimulus money for recipients.

The Democrats, on the other hand, have insisted on not using unallocated "stimulus" money to help the unemployed and have refused to make any cuts in government or their own Congressional budgets to prevent further adding to the nation's debt.

In fact, while finding ways to pay for every other provision in the broader H.R. 4213, the "American Jobs and Closing Tax Loopholes Act of 2010" or "Tax Extenders" bill of which unemployment extensions was initially a part, the Democrats found ways to pay for every other provision of a scaled down bill and even removed the $25 per week FAC stimulus money to the unemployed, but maintained that they would not find offsets for the $34 billion needed to pay for what was left of unemployment benefits extensions, thus knowingly making unemployment extensions into a political issue that would stall in the Senate.

Then, capitalizing on the Republicans' attempt to start to bring spending under control in order to begin to heal the economy and help build confidence in the business community so they would create jobs again, the Democrats used the stalemate and the suffering of the unemployed to demonize the Republicans.

Democrats turned down multiple opportunities to end the deadlock and provide unemployment benefits extensions to the jobless, long before and right up to the 4^th of July Congressional recess.

It even took pleas from Republican Senator Olympia Snowe (Maine) to finally persuade Senate Majority Harry Reid (D-Nev) to separate unemployment benefits extensions from the many other contentious issues in H.R. 4213, the "Tax Extenders" bill so at least some Republicans could get on board with it, even if unemployment benefits extensions were not paid for.

The move did bring two Republican votes across the aisle. On June 30, just before the Independence Day recess, Reid brought a nearly standalone unemployment benefits extension bill to the floor for a cloture vote which came very close to finally passing, missing by only one vote - a result of the passing of Senator Robert Byrd (D-W. Virg.).

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) then made yet another offer to restore unemployment benefits at least temporarily so the jobless would not have to go without benefits over the 12-day recess, but the democrats refused again.

Senator Reid had also turned down a compromise offer from Senator George Voinovich (D-Ohio) for his vote earlier that day. Voinovich offered to provide the 60^th vote necessary for cloture of the unemployment extension bill if Reid would agree to allow just half of the benefits bill to be paid for with unused stimulus funds. Reid refused this offer as well, even though he and the Democrats had previously offered to use those same funds for other provisions in the "Tax Extenders" bill. Voinovich was reportedly stunned, commenting that Reid was obviously using the unemployment extension issue to demagogue for votes in November.

But at last, now 20 days later and after over a million more jobless Americans have lost their unemployment benefits, the Senate should have their 60 votes necessary for cloture today.

A replacement for the late Senator Robert Byrd has been appointed and will be sworn in at 2:15 this afternoon.

Senator Reid has the option of several bills to bring to the floor today. One, which has already been prepared for quick passage, is a standalone version of unemployment extensions passed in the House on July 1, just before the recess.

However, Reid is expected to bring the Senate version of unemployment benefits extensions to the floor for a cloture vote and Byrd's newly sworn replacement, the soon to be Senator, Carte Goodwin from West Virginia, is expected to finally cast the 60^th vote.

While the Senate will have up to 30 hours for additional debate on this version of the bill, it is expected to finally pass in the Senate. As it is no longer the same H.R. 4213 bill originally sent up from the House and as it contains the Reid-Baucus Amendment (H.R. 4425), the bill, once passed in the Senate, will have to go to the House for their vote to reconcile the changes.

The House is said to be prepared to receive and quickly pass the revised unemployment benefits extension bill and should then get it to the President quickly for his signature, hopefully by the end of this week, at which time the unemployment extension bill will finally become law.

The unemployed should then expect to have to wait at least two to four weeks, possibly a little longer, to begin to start receiving retroactive and ongoing UI benefits checks again. Each state will be handling retroactive benefits differently, so be prepared to complete paperwork to claim unemployment benefits you have missed and, for some, to make application for your next tier.

These unemployment benefits extensions, unfortunately, apply only to restoring extensions in Tiers 1-4 and do not benefit the ninety-niners who have already exhausted or are about to exhaust all of these benefits and who so desperately need a Tier 5 to be added as there are not nearly enough jobs to absorb all of the unemployed. Tier 5 will be another battle, if we can even get Congress to listen again.

It's unfortunate that so many millions of Americans have had to suffer so greatly while our "representatives" in Congress turned our lifeline into a political weapon, trying to use our suffering to score Democrat votes. Hopefully, we will all find jobs before these unemployment benefits extensions run out. But that is not very likely. And they run out, not coincidentally, right after the November election.