Checks are coming: Obama signs unemployment bill
WASHINGTON
President Barack Obama on Thursday signed into law a restoration
of benefits for people who have been out of work for six months or
more. Congress approved the measure earlier in the day. The move
ended an interruption that cut off payments averaging about $300 a
week to 2 1/2 million people who have been unable to find work in the
aftermath of the nation's long and deep recession.
At stake are up to 73 weeks of federally financed benefits for
people who have exhausted their 26 weeks of state jobless benefits.
About half of the approximately 5 million people in the program
have had their benefits cut off since its authorization expired
June 2.
They are eligible for lump-sum retroactive payments that are
typically delivered directly to their bank accounts or credited to
state-issued debit cards. Many states have encouraged beneficiaries
to keep updating their paperwork in hopes of speeding payments once
the program was restored.
In states like Pennsylvania and New York, the back payments
should go out next week, officials said. In others, like Nevada and
North Carolina, it may take a few weeks for all of those eligible
to receive benefits.
Thursday's 272-152 House vote sent the bill to the White House.
" Americans who are fighting to find a good job and support
their families will finally get the support they need to get back
on their feet during these tough economic times," Obama said in a
statement issued after signing the measure.
The House action came less than 24 hours after a mostly
party-line Senate vote Wednesday on the measure, which is just one
piece of a larger Democratic jobs agenda that has otherwise mostly
collapsed after months of battles with Republicans.
The measure is what remains of a Democratic effort launched in
February to renew elements of last year's economic stimulus bill.
But GOP opposition forced Democrats to drop $24 billion to help
state governments avoid layoffs and higher taxes, as well as a
package of expired tax cuts and a health insurance subsidy for the
unemployed.
Wrangling over the larger measure consumed about four months.
The jobless benefits portion picked up enough GOP support in the
Senate -- Maine moderates Susan Collins and Olympia Snowe -- only
after it was broken off as a stand-alone bill. It would have passed
last month were it not for the death of Robert Byrd, D-W.Va.;
Byrd's replacement, Democrat Carte Goodwin, cast the key 60th vote
Tuesday to defeat a GOP filibuster.
Most Republicans opposed the measure because it would add $34
billion to a national debt that has hit $13 trillion, arguing that
it should have been paid for with cuts to other programs, such as
unspent money from last year's economic stimulus bill, which is
earning mixed grades at best from voters as unemployment stands at
9.5 percent nationwide.
Thirty-one House Republicans, about one in six, voted for the
measure Thursday, while 10 Democrats opposed it.
"The other side says that these unemployment benefits
stretching to almost two years are needed and must be added to the
$13 trillion debt, even as they claim their trillion-dollar
stimulus plan has been a success at creating millions of jobs,"
said Rep. Charles Boustany, R-La. "It makes you wonder if they're
looking at the same jobs data as the rest of us."
Opposition marked a change of heart for many Republicans who had
voted for deficit-financed unemployment benefits in the past,
including twice during George W. Bush's administration. Earlier
this year, Republicans twice allowed temporary unemployment
measures to pass without asking for a roll call vote.
Opinion polls show that deficits and debt are of increasing
concern to voters, especially Republicans' core conservative
supporters and the tea party activists whose support the GOP is
courting in hopes of retaking control of Congress.
Republicans winced in February when Sen. Jim Bunning, R-Ky.,
blocked a temporary benefits measure for several days, only to
relent amid a wave of bad publicity. But just a few weeks later,
all but a handful of Republicans were opposed to renewing benefits
unless they were paid for with cuts elsewhere in the $3.7 trillion
federal budget.
Democrats countered that many economists say unemployment
benefits boost the economy since most beneficiaries spend them
immediately. But any such effects are likely to be modest when
measured against a $14.6 trillion economy.
"Unemployment benefits protect those who have lost their jobs
through no fault of their own but would lead to more jobs, higher
wages and a stronger economy for all Americans," said Speaker
Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif. "The money will be spent immediately on
necessity, injecting demand into the economy, creating jobs."
The program is being renewed through the end of November. The
White House signaled earlier this week that another extension may
be sought if the jobless rate remains high, as many expect.