Congressman Steven Horsford's Unemployment Insurance Legislation Passes Congress, Secures $1 Billion for Benefits

Statement

Today, March 18, 2020, legislation introduced by Congressman Steven Horsford (NV-04), H.R. 6199, the Emergency Unemployment Insurance Stabilization and Access Act of 2020, passed the Senate and heads to the president's desk to be signed into law. This legislation will ensure that states can provide earned benefits to those who lose their jobs or are furloughed because of the spread of coronavirus. H.R. 6199 would secure roughly $5 million in assistance for Nevada immediately, with another possible $5 million and 100 percent funding for extended benefits if the state sees very significant job loss.

"The time for action to ease the impacts of coronavirus on our community is now. I fought tirelessly to secure $1 billion for unemployment insurance nationwide that will provide relief to those who are facing coronavirus-related job loss. As we grapple with the impacts of coronavirus bringing business and travel to a standstill, our country has seen, and will continue to see, increased unemployment and lay-offs. With this legislation, we are affording our constituents the safety net they deserve," Congressman Horsford, a founding member of the Coronavirus Travel and Tourism Task Force, said.

H.R. 6199 passed both houses of Congress as a part of the Families First Coronavirus Response Act, a larger package that includes free coronavirus testing, paid emergency leave for workers, food security assistance, and help for states overburdened by Medicaid costs.

In Las Vegas, which receives roughly 42 million visitors a year, dozens of major conferences, concerts and events have now been postponed or canceled. On the Las Vegas Strip, resorts and casinos have begun to close their doors to visitors, leaving thousands of Nevadans furloughed or facing job loss.

All across the country, states are seeing a spike in unemployment, with hundreds suffering from job loss due to coronavirus. With this legislation, Congress will provide states with resources and flexibility to provide unemployment benefits to laid-off and furloughed workers, as well as those who exhaust paid leave. The average unemployment benefit to Nevadans prior to the coronavirus outbreak was $380 per week over a six month period. This legislation would allow the state to keep up with demand for benefits.

This legislation would also provide additional funding to help the hardest-hit states if the situation worsens. In exchange for that additional support, states must guarantee that they will provide full access to unemployment benefits to all workers who are eligible and ease access for those dealing with the impacts of coronavirus.

Specifically, the legislation would:

-Quickly provide all states with a one-time emergency administration grant for unemployment insurance (UI) to fund staffing, information technology, and other costs related to administering UI, so long as they ensure workers who lose their job get notice of the availability of these earned benefits from their employer and can access and navigate the UI system.
-States who experience a sharp increase in UI claims could get an additional one-time grant if they commit to temporarily easing eligibility requirements and access to UI for claimants (including waiving work search requirements and the waiting week and relieve UI benefit charging on employers who are directly impacted by COVID-19).
-The bill also temporarily relaxes federal rules which might make it harder for states to take those actions to improve access.
-The total amount of these emergency grants available to all states is $1 billion -- $500 million for immediate grants, and $500 million reserved for grants to hard-hit states that qualify.
-For those hard-hit states, the bill also temporarily provides full federal financing of Extended Benefits, rather than requiring 50 percent state financing, and it waives interest on loans states may need to take for their UI program.

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