WASHINGTON, DC - U.S. Senator Susan Collins today introduced a bipartisan agreement with nine other senators to reauthorize emergency unemployment insurance (UI) benefits for five months and allow for retroactive payments to eligible beneficiaries going back to December 28th. The bill was sponsored by Senators Jack Reed (D-RI) and Dean Heller (R-NV), as well as Senators Collins, Rob Portman (R-OH), Lisa Murkowski (R-AK), Mark Kirk (R-IL), Jeff Merkley (D-OR), Cory Booker (D-NJ), Sherrod Brown (D-OH), and Dick Durbin (D-IL).
This new legislation seeks to strengthen the U.S. economy while providing vulnerable job seekers and their families with a vital lifeline as they continue to look for work. The proposal is fully paid-for using a combination of offsets that includes extending "pension smoothing" provisions from the 2012 highway bill (MAP-21), which were set to phase out this year, and extending customs user fees through 2024. The bill also includes an additional offset allowing single-employer pension plans to prepay their flat rate premiums to the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (PBGC).
The legislative proposal also includes language championed by Senator Susan Collins (R-ME) to provide stronger reemployment assessments for job seekers. This provision is designed to help get job seekers back into the workforce by determining skills gaps and the cause of the individual's long-term unemployment status.
Now that the bill has been introduced, it must pass a 60-vote threshold to overcome a filibuster. Reed and Heller expressed confidence that they would have more than enough votes to advance the measure in the U.S. Senate.