“Republicans right now are holding up COVID relief package because the unemployment insurance is TOO GENEROUS,” Sen. Brian Schatz, D-Hawaii, tweeted.
By Allan Smith
A handful of Republican senators on Wednesday threatened to delay the $2 trillion coronavirus spending bill over a proposed increase to unemployment insurance.
In a statement, Sens. Tim Scott, R-S.C., Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., and Ben Sasse, R-Neb., said that the bill could provide a “strong incentive for employees to be laid off instead of going to work” because some people could theoretically make more by being unemployed.
“This isn’t an abstract, philosophical point — it’s an immediate, real-world problem,” they continued. “If the federal government accidentally incentivizes layoffs, we risk life-threatening shortages in sectors where doctors, nurses, and pharmacists are trying to care for the sick, and where growers and grocers, truckers and cooks are trying to get food to families’ tables.”
They added, “We must sadly oppose the fast-tracking of this bill until this text is addressed, or the Department of Labor issues regulatory guidance that no American would earn more by not working than by working.”
The final details of the bill have yet to be released but Senate negotiators came to an agreement overnight that includes an additional $600 per week payment to each recipient of unemployment insurance. The benefit also extends to those who typically do not qualify, such as gig economy workers, furloughed employees and freelancers. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., said the boost “ensures that laid-off workers, on average, will receive their full pay for four months.”
Senators are expected to vote on the bill later Wednesday.
At a press conference Wednesday, Graham, Scott, Sasse and fellow GOP Sen. Rick Scott of Florida said they hoped an amendment could be passed that would limit unemployment benefits to 100 percent of a worker’s salary.
“We’ll know in about an hour whether this is a drafting error,” Graham said, adding that he’s afraid it is not and that very few people would choose work over unemployment benefits that provided moderately more money.