New Democrat Coalition Members Lead Effort Urging House Leadership to Take Action on Unemployment Insurance, Automatic Stabilizers
Today, New Democrat Coalition (NDC) Vice Chair Scott Peters (CA-52), along with New Dem Rep. Don Beyer (VA-08) and NDC Chair Derek Kilmer (WA-06), led 114 Members in sending a letter to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Majority Leader Steny Hoyer urging the House to take action on unemployment insurance.
In the letter, Members are asking for House consideration of legislation to reauthorize the enhanced unemployment compensation and establish unemployment insurance automatic stabilizers for the duration of the COVID-19 public health and economic crisis. Specifically, Members recommend consideration of the NDC-supported Worker Relief and Security Act, which was introduced by Reps. Don Beyer, Vice Chair of the Joint Economic Committee, and Derek Kilmer, Chair of the New Democrat Coalition.
The Worker Relief and Security Act would extend the $600 weekly federal unemployment compensation benefits through the duration of the national COVID-19 public health emergency, provide for unlimited unemployment coverage weeks through January 2021, and then continue providing enhanced compensation and additional coverage weeks determined by national and state total unemployment rates.
The letter reads:
“As Democrats, we know how important it is to get aid to the people who need it most. While there are various proposals to extend unemployment benefits, the only way to provide financial relief to millions of Americans without being subject to political hurdles, is to enact automatic stabilizers for unemployment benefits. By passing legislation that ties unemployment benefits to economic triggers, we can ensure that aid is restored to those who need it and prevent future lapses as long as the economy tells us aid is needed.”
The NDC continues to advocate for the implementation of automatic stabilizers to ensure the American people have access to critical resources without the need for additional congressional action if conditions persist or worsen. In March, the NDC was the first caucus to put forward comprehensive policy recommendations and priorities for Congress’s coronavirus response and economic recovery packages. In April, NDC Leadership Members sent a letter to House Democratic Leadership and Chairs of the Standing House Committees urging them to prioritize building automatic stabilizers into coronavirus assistance. The NDC also worked with leading economists and Obama Administration officials to develop Rep. Beyer and Kilmer’s bicameral Worker Relief and Security Act last month.
Read the full letter here or below.
August 19, 2020
Sent Electronically
Dear Speaker Pelosi and Leader Hoyer:
Thank you for taking decisive steps to save the U.S. Postal Service by scheduling a vote on legislation this weekend. The Postal Service provides an essential service to every American and is a lifeline to many, including our seniors and our veterans. While rescuing the Postal Service is crucial, it is equally important that we provide a lifeline to the 30 million Americans who are relying on unemployment insurance. Therefore, we ask, as members return to Washington to address the crisis at the USPS, that the House consider legislation like the Worker Relief and Security Act (Beyer/Kilmer).
The Worker Relief and Security Act would extend unemployment benefits to those who need it and ensure benefits last for the duration of the recession by tying continued enhanced unemployment insurance to the health crisis and economic indicators. It has been 18 days since the weekly $600 enhanced unemployment benefits expired, leaving 30 million Americans in a lurch. We owe it to people waiting to get back to work across the country not only to extend unemployment benefits to help them pay their bills, but to tie these benefits to economic conditions so workers are not held hostage by another cliff like this one.
Nearly 30 million Americans, or one in five workers, are currently relying on unemployment benefits to keep a roof over their head, put food on the table, and keep their kids healthy. The enhanced unemployment compensation of $600 per week provided families support to meet their needs, replaced lost earnings, stabilized household spending, and in turn, stimulated the broader economy.
Since the $600 supplement has expired, countless constituents have reached out to our offices, expressing heartbreaking stories, in which they must choose between paying for groceries or their car payment. Some can make it through the next few months but are worried about what will happen once savings run out. Our economic footing is fragile, and this assistance has been paramount in preventing an even worse economic collapse.
As you know, during the last recession, Congress extended emergency unemployment benefits 13 times. This time, we seem headed for an even more perilous path as Republicans have already blown past the deadline to extend the enhanced unemployment compensation with reckless abandon, satisfied by the President’s woefully inadequate Executive Order.
The Worker Relief and Security Act would automatically continue, expand, and adjust enhanced unemployment insurance programs based on public health and economic triggers through the duration of the crisis without the need for further congressional action. Specifically, the bill would extend the $600 weekly federal pandemic unemployment compensation (FPUC) for the duration of the national COVID-19 health emergency, and then continue and adjust the weekly federal unemployment compensation amount and number of available unemployment benefit weeks dependent on the state total unemployment rate.
As Democrats, we know how important it is to get aid to the people who need it most. While there are various proposals to extend unemployment benefits, the only way to provide financial relief to millions of Americans without being subject to political hurdles, is to enact automatic stabilizers for unemployment benefits. By passing legislation that ties unemployment benefits to economic triggers, we can ensure that aid is restored to those who need it and prevent future lapses as long as the economy tells us aid is needed.
We appreciate your diligence and steadfast commitment to American workers and hope you will move forward this legislation for consideration.
Sincerely,
The letter was signed by: Scott H. Peters (CA-52), Don Beyer (VA-08), Derek Kilmer (WA-06), Terri A. Sewell (AL-07), Mikie Sherrill (NJ-11), Bill Foster (IL-11), Grace F. Napolitano (CA-32), Suzan K. DelBene (WA-01), Kim Schrier, M.D. (WA-08), Bradley S. Schneider (IL-10), David Trone (MD-06), Denny Heck (WA-10), Ann McLane Kuster (NH-02), Peter Welch (VT), Madeleine Dean (PA-04), C.A. Dutch Ruppersberger (MD-02), Adam Smith (WA-09), Norma Torres (CA-35), David E. Price (NC-04), A. Donald McEachin (VA-04), Kathleen M. Rice (NY-04), Ed Case (HI-01), Joe Neguse (CO-02), Marc Veasey (TX-33), Colin Allred (TX-32), Donna Shalala (FL-27), Sharice L. Davids (KS-03), Chrissy Houlahan (PA-06), Jimmy Panetta (CA-20), Alcee L. Hastings (FL-20), Jared Huffman (CA-02), Susie Lee (NV-03), Pete Aguilar (CA-31), Brendan Boyle (PA-02), Darren Soto (FL-09), Debbie Mucarsel-Powell (FL-26), Ann Kirkpatrick (AZ-02), Bobby L. Rush (IL-01), Rick Larsen (WA-02), Ruben Gallego (AZ-07), Ami Bera, M.D. (CA-07), Joyce Beatty (OH-03), Steve Cohen (TN-09), TJ Cox (CA-21), Jim Himes (CT-04), Lori Trahan (MA-03), Alan Lowenthal (CA-47), Tony Cárdenas (CA-29), Mike Quigley (IL-05), André Carson (IN-07), Gregory W. Meeks (NY-05), Juan Vargas (CA-51), Veronica Escobar (TX-16), Al Lawson (FL-05), Brenda Lawrence (MI-14), Earl Blumenauer (OR-03), Eleanor Holmes Norton (DC), Mike Levin (CA-49), Max Rose (NY-11), Frederica S. Wilson (FL-24), Charlie Crist (FL-13), Julia Brownley (CA-26), Ro Khanna (CA-17), Debbie Wasserman Schultz (FL-23), Jim Costa (CA-16), John Yarmuth (KY-03), Peter A. DeFazio (OR-04), Salud O. Carbajal (CA-24), Angie Craig (MN-02), Lisa Blunt Rochester (DE), Lucille Roybal-Allard (CA-40), Donald Norcross (NJ-01), Deb Haaland (NM-01), Cindy Axne (IA-03), Jennifer Wexton (VA-10), Adam Schiff (CA-28), Mary Gay Scanlon (PA-05), Sanford D. Bishop Jr. (GA-02), Vicente Gonzalez (TX-15), Dwight Evans (PA-03), Sheila Jackson Lee (TX-18), Joseph D. Morelle (NY-25), Marcy Kaptur (OH-09), Diana DeGette (CO-01), Adriano Espaillat (NY-13), Joaquin Castro (TX-20), Gerald E. Connolly (VA-11), Suzanne Bonamici (OR-01), Judy Chu (CA-27), Seth Moulton (MA-06), Wm. Lacy Clay (MO-01), Rosa DeLauro (CT-03), Donald M. Payne, Jr. (NJ-10), Val Demings (FL-10), Lou Correa (CA-46), Jason Crow (CO-06), Ed Perlmutter (CO-07), Harley Rouda (CA-48), Tim Ryan (OH-13), Sylvia R. Garcia (TX-29), Jim Langevin (RI-02), Daniel T. Kildee (MI-05), Betty McCollum (MN-04), Anthony G. Brown (MD-04), Bill Keating (MA-09), José E. Serrano (NY-15), Nydia M. Velázquez (NY-07), Stacey E. Plaskett (VI-AL), Paul Tonko (NY-20), Matt Cartwright (PA-08), Emanuel Cleaver (MO-05), Jerry McNerney (CA-09), Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (NY-14), Andy Levin (MI-09), Susan Davis (CA-53), Ted Deutch (FL-22) and Zoe Lofgren (CA-19).
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