• Funding
  • Investing
  • Lending
  • Insurance
  • Banking
  • Wealth
  • Fintech
  • Venture
  • Crypto
Subscribe
No Result
View All Result
  • Equity Funding
  • Stocks
  • Mutual Funds
  • Credit Cards
  • Loans
  • Insurances
  • Savings
  • Crypto Trading

Unemployment benefits end next week. It may be too late for Congress to stop it, experts say

CNBC NewsbyCNBC News
March 6, 2021

Alex Wong | Getty Images News | Getty Images

The Senate passed a $1.9 trillion coronavirus relief bill on Saturday that extends and raises unemployment benefits.

Democrats will now look to get that pandemic aid bill to President Joe Biden in time to prevent a gap in jobless benefits, which are slated to expire next weekend.

It’s perhaps too late to stop that from happening, according to some experts.

“The unfortunate reality is, we waited a little too long,” said Elizabeth Pancotti, an unemployment expert and policy advisor at Employ America. “They needed a bill to [President Biden] by about Valentine’s Day.”

The House aims to approve the Senate version of the plan in the coming days and send it to Biden to sign into law.

Democrats look to pass their latest rescue package before March 14, the day when the current $300 per week supplement and other temporary programs expire.

Absent another extension, millions of long-term unemployed would lose income support — falling off the so-called benefits cliff.

More from Personal Finance:
Some workers never got the last round of extended benefits
There are new PPP rules for self-employed and gig workers
With 4 million Americans long-term unemployed, benefits cliff looms

More than 18 million total Americans were collecting jobless aid as of mid-February, according to Labor Department data.

American Rescue Plan

After significant delays, Senate Democrats on Friday reached an agreement to extend unemployment benefits through Sept. 6 and pay an extra $300 a week. (They would also make the first $10,200 in unemployment aid non-taxable to prevent surprise bills. The provision will apply to households with incomes under $150,000.)

They passed the American Rescue Plan on Saturday in a 50-49 party-line vote, as Republicans questioned the need for another broad spending package.

The legislation differs somewhat from the version the House passed last Saturday. That bill offered jobless benefits to Aug. 29 and raised them by $400 a week.

It seems likely Democrats will get the bill to Biden’s desk by March 14. But certain administrative steps and technology hurdles make it an almost foregone conclusion that there will be a multi-week gap in benefits for some workers anyway, experts said.

“I think there’s a subset of people whose benefits will end on this March 14 cliff,” said Andrew Stettner, a senior fellow at the Century Foundation.

These delays also occurred earlier in the pandemic — after the CARES Act was passed in March 2020, and again after measures like Lost Wages Assistance over the summer and the Continued Assistance Act in December.

Some states have managed better than others, though.

Federal data suggests nearly 3 million people fell off the co-called benefits cliff after Christmas, for example.

States must typically wait for guidance from the Labor Department on how to implement new rules after a law passes. They must then code those rules into their systems and test them.

“After passage, our vendor will need to reprogram the system and cannot begin that work until we receive rules and regulations from the U.S. Department of Labor,” the Colorado Department of Labor and Employment said of the American Rescue Plan during a town hall this week.

However, the governor and other state officials are working to prevent a gap in benefits, the Department said.

‘Couple weeks of chaos’

This process can take some states about four to five weeks or more, Pancotti said.

States like Wisconsin still haven’t issued extra benefits to some residents from the December relief law.

However, there are reasons for optimism, experts said. Any delays likely won’t be as long as some earlier ones.

For example, the rules don’t seem to be changing much, which reduces complexity and programming time. And Democrats seem intent on passing the bill with a simple majority using a budget process called reconciliation — giving states more clarity.

“I think everybody is expecting a couple weeks of chaos where workers may not get payments on time,” Pancotti said. “[But] we think it will be a shorter [delay], and for fewer workers and fewer states.”

Plus, not everyone is poised to lose aid on March 14.

The date is a “soft cliff.” Workers who exhaust their 50-week maximum allotment of benefits through temporary programs would be kicked off.

Such people would have been collecting aid since the early days of the Covid pandemic.

But those who haven’t hit 50 weeks can continue receiving funds up to April 11. These workers have a little breathing room, Stettner said.

It’s hoped any delays won’t be longer than two to five weeks, Stettner added.

What to do

Workers should continue to certify for benefits as they’ve done every week, Stettner said.

This way, even if there’s a delay, they will get back pay for those weeks. States should be issuing these funds automatically as long as workers certify.

“Keep doing what you’re doing,” he said. “And if for some reason it doesn’t go through the first time, keep trying.”

If workers can’t certify for benefits, they should keep a record of their attempts — by taking a screenshot of failed login attempts or of outgoing calls made to a labor agency, for example, Stettner said.

Read The Original Article on CNBC News

Related Topics

Personal Finance

Expedia Group debuts online Covid info search for 7 travel brands

Bitcoin

Millennium Management Hedge Fund Gains Exposure to Bitcoin through Grayscale

Prev Next

You May Like

Personal Finance

Expedia Group debuts online Covid info search for 7 travel brands

Bitcoin

Millennium Management Hedge Fund Gains Exposure to Bitcoin through Grayscale

Advisory

Biden tax plan may lead to more Roth retirement accounts

Advisory

Just 3% of near-retirees can correctly answer all of these Social Security benefit questions

Financial News

Advisory

‘Three martini lunch’ tax break may not save many restaurants, advisors say

CNBC News
by CNBC News
Blockchain News

Is Ethereum the Future of DeFi? Scalability and Cost Issues Open Door for Cardano and Polkadot

Blockchain News
by Blockchain News
Investing

Tesla shares fall 6% as it enters the S&P 500 with 1.69% weighting, fifth largest

CNBC News
by CNBC News
Investing

SpaceX plans for Starship test flight next week, which Elon Musk gives 1-in-3 odds of landing intact

CNBC News
by CNBC News
Earning

Under Armour’s strong footwear sales help drive earnings beat

CNBC News
by CNBC News
Personal Finance

How Dr. Fauci stays motivated while fighting Covid: ‘Suck it up and keep going, no matter how frustrating it gets’

CNBC News
by CNBC News
Stock Market

Two months later, some states still haven’t paid $300 unemployment boost

CNBC News
by CNBC News
Personal Finance

The latest coronavirus relief proposals don’t include $1,200 stimulus checks. Here’s what else could impact your wallet

CNBC News
by CNBC News
Load More

© 2020, FinanceLane

Home | Contact | Terms and Conditions | Disclaimer | Privacy Policy

  • Home
  • News Feed
    • Equity Funding
    • Debt Funding
    • Crowdfunding
    • Real Estate Funding
  • Investing
    • Stocks
    • Bonds
    • Mutual Funds
    • Private Equity
    • Merging & Acquisition
    • Real Estate
  • Lending
    • Personal Loan
    • Business Loan
    • Credit Card
    • Microfinance
    • Peer-to-Peer Lending
  • Insurance
    • Life Insurance
    • Auto Insurance
    • Education Insurance
    • Health Insurance
  • Banking
    • Business Banking
    • Payments Bank
    • Investment Banking
    • Individual Banking
  • Wealth
    • Earning
    • Savings
    • Investments
    • Budgetting
    • Credit Management
    • Tax Planning
    • Retirement
  • Fintech
    • Alternative Financing
    • Payments
    • Asset Management
    • Digital Banks
    • Softwares
  • Venture
    • Startup Ecosystem
    • Merging & Acquisition
    • Equity Investing
    • Franchising
    • Business Offers
  • Fintech
    • Alternative Financing
    • Asset Management
    • Digital Banks
    • Softwares
    • Payments
  • Crypto
    • Crypto Investing
    • Crypto Trading
    • Crypto Coins
    • Bitcoin
    • Blockchain
    • DAPP
  • Subscribe
  • Contact
  • Login

© 2020 FinanceLane - Terms and Conditions | Disclaimer | Privacy Policy

Welcome Back!

Login to your account below

Forgotten Password?

Create New Account!

Fill the forms below to register

*By registering into our website, you agree to the Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policy.
All fields are required. Log In

Retrieve your password

Please enter your username or email address to reset your password.

Log In
← Another stimulus package is on its way. Here’s what to do with the aid ← PAID Network DeFi Platform Attacked as Hacker Gains $3 Million Of ETH After Minting $166 Million Of Tokens
This website uses cookies. By continuing to use this website you are giving consent to cookies being used. Visit our Privacy and Cookie Policy.