Bicameral Delegation Releases Framework For Legislation Tying Expanded Unemployment Benefits To Public Health Emergency And Economic Conditions

Statement

Rep. Don Beyer (D-VA) and Senators Jack Reed (D-RI) and Michael Bennet (D-CO) today released a draft framework for the Worker Relief and Security Act, legislation that would tie ongoing expanded unemployment benefits to the public health emergency and economic conditions. The bill would use automatic triggers to ensure that assistance continues to flow to workers for the duration of the pandemic and the resulting economic crisis even in the absence of action by Congress.

"In the face of an historic crisis, the federal government must take extraordinary steps to give the American people sustained help and prevent this economic downturn from becoming a depression," said Rep. Don Beyer (D-VA). "This pandemic and the resulting economic crisis may continue to inflict horrifying suffering on the country for many months to come. Passing emergency relief legislation that incorporates automatic triggers would have the enormous benefit of ensuring assistance continues to flow to workers even if Congress itself is unable or unwilling to act. I have had many conversations with colleagues about the ideas contained here, and expect them to receive strong consideration in ongoing discussions about future pandemic response legislation."
Beyer serves as Vice Chair of the Joint Economic Committee, which released a report last week arguing that "tying support to economic conditions is essential."
"When an economic crisis hits, people lose their livelihoods. Congress needs an unemployment insurance system that is there when people need it so they and the overall economy are automatically stabilized. Our proposal is data-driven and targeted to give people, businesses, and communities a boost of needed stability and certainty, and offers critical resources to help out of work Americans get back on their feet and get our economy working again," said Sen. Jack Reed (D-RI).
"We are going to be climbing out of a deep economic hole, and we need to maintain support for workers and families until the economy is back to full strength," said Sen. Michael Bennet (D-CO). "Our plan will strengthen unemployment benefits to sustain people whose lives have been upended through no fault of their own until they can safely go back to work."

"Since the onset of this pandemic, we've seen a repetition of the scene from Jaws where they acknowledge, "We're gonna need a bigger boat.' That's why the New Democrat Coalition believes automatic stabilizers need to be built into coronavirus response and recovery assistance programs to trigger assistance when and where we need it, and ensure a sustainable and robust economic recovery," said New Democrat Coalition Chair Derek Kilmer (D-WA). "I applaud Rep. Don Beyer and Senators Reed and Bennet for their leadership on the Worker Relief and Security Act to trigger continued unemployment compensation benefits tied to the duration and economic impacts of this crisis. The nature of this pandemic and economic crisis is unprecedented and has created enormous uncertainty for the American people. A bold step like this can provide some much-needed predictability."

The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office projects that the unemployment rate will average 15 percent into the fall of 2020, a rate not seen since the Great Depression, and remain at or near double digits through 2021.
The Worker Relief and Security Act would use automatic triggers to ensure that those who lost their jobs because of the pandemic or resulting economic damage receive sustained government assistance for the duration of the crisis, rather than ending at an arbitrary date set by Congress.
The draft legislative framework is available here, with a factsheet here and explanatory charts here.

The legislation specifies that for the duration of extreme social distancing (tied to the President's emergency declaration issued in March or a governor's declaration), workers will face no limits on the benefits they can currently receive under the CARES Act, and benefits will continue for the duration of an economic crisis:

A worker who exhausts their traditional unemployment compensation benefits (funded by the state) will be able to receive additional unemployment benefits fully financed by the federal government without limit until 26 weeks after the end of extreme social distancing.
A worker receiving Pandemic Unemployment Assistance (PUA) benefits for those who do not qualify for traditional UI will also not face limits on the number of weeks they can draw benefits until 26 weeks after the end of the Public Health Emergency.
Workers receiving the extra $600 in weekly benefits will continue to receive it until 30 days after the end of the President's emergency declaration, after which it will begin to phase down over 13 weeks.
Workers in states with extraordinary unemployment or elevated levels of unemployment would be eligible for additional benefits on top of regular benefits based on the 3-month average of the state's unemployment rate. The bill would also fix the PUA program to ensure workers who fall between the cracks of the traditional unemployment assistance do not fall between the cracks of the program meant to support them.