Bill Extending Emergency Jobless Aid Is Passed by Senate Finance Committee
WASHINGTON -- A Senate committee easily approved emergency aid for the jobless, amid signs of a Republican split over an issue that has suddenly become a top Democratic priority.</br></br>The Senate Finance Committee voted 16-4 for a measure, introduced just this week by Chairman Lloyd Bentsen (D., Texas), extending unemployment benefits to more jobless workers and for a longer period in many cases. Five of the panel's nine Republicans joined all 11 Democrats in voting for the bill. Senate GOP Leader Robert Dole of Kansas, who opposed it, nonetheless indicated that he was trying to get the Bush administration to soften its opposition and back some compromise.</br></br>Meanwhile, House leaders released details of a separate measure that, like the Senate bill, is on a fast track toward possible passage before Congress departs for its August recess. The House bill would leave it to the president to decide whether the bill for added benefits would be paid for by raising taxes on employers or by declaring the spending an emergency exempt from the ceilings in last fall's budget agreement. The Senate bill, to take effect, relies on the president to designate an emergency, which administration officials oppose.</br></br>Congressional Democrats' flurry of action comes about a year after the recession began, and when it is generally thought to be ending. That delay has embarrassed many Democrats, given the party's traditional fealty to labor. But key leaders feared that any relief measure would lack sufficient votes if it meant raising the employer payroll taxes that finance the unemployment compensation system. Defending the late response, Democrats note that joblessness typically persists even as recessions wane because recovering businesses don't rush to recall workers or hire new ones.</br></br>Currently, the jobless first get up to 26 weeks of state benefits. In states with high unemployment, they can receive an extension of up to 13 weeks more at a cost shared by state and federal governments. But many unemployed workers don't qualify for the extended benefits, given state restrictions on eligibility and high thresholds for the state unemployment rates that trigger extended aid.