We Have One Shot to Protect Jobless Benefits. Let's Go Big.
By Senator Ron Wyden
President Biden is inheriting from Donald Trump a country in tatters, just like his Democratic predecessor. There’s no sugarcoating it. The country is facing unprecedented challenges. A raging pandemic, an economic crisis, and a strained democracy.
Climbing out of the hole we’re in will be a significant challenge. Members of Congress who were in office during the height of the Great Recession know what worked and what didn’t work. The key lessons we learned were the importance of not assuming there will be multiple bites at the apple, and not taking your foot off the gas in the middle of economic recovery.
For example, Congress in 2009 did not pass another economic relief package after the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. Democrats lost control of the House of Representatives in 2010, and were then forced to haggle with Republicans for every penny of economic support.
Coronavirus relief and the CARES Act provides a more recent example. The CARES Act was passed in March, but due to Senate Republicans’ obstruction Congress was unable to pass a second robust relief package until December.
So, members of Congress and senators must not let our first economic relief package be limited by self-imposed spending caps.
We must pass the economic relief package that the American people want and need because there might not be a second chance to do what’s needed, especially given the myriad other pressing problems.
That’s why it’s critical that Congress tie economic relief programs like jobless benefits to economic conditions on the ground, not arbitrary dates that allow Republicans the opportunity to hold them hostage and engage in economic sabotage.
Under my previous proposal, the $600 weekly federal boost to unemployment insurance benefits would be retroactively extended through October 2021, and the additional weeks of federal benefits and the new program for gig and freelance workers would be tied to economic conditions on the ground.
The additional weeks of federal benefits and the program for gig and freelance workers would not expire as long as the three month average national unemployment rate is above 5.5 percent, and will stay available longer in states where unemployment remains high.
These policies are not only good economic policy, they are also incredibly popular.
New Data for Progress polling shows that 67 percent of voters, including 70 percent of independents, believe that jobless benefits should be extended until the unemployment rate falls to pre-pandemic levels. Importantly, these voters were also presented with a Republican argument about cutting off benefits early due to concerns about debt and deficit and only 24 percent of voters bought that argument. Similarly, 67 percent of voters support a $600 weekly top off so that workers are able to live off their benefits. In fact, support has only strengthened as the pandemic has raged on. Only 33 percent bought Republican arguments that benefits were too generous and provided a disincentive to work.
Democrats have the upper hand here, and should not flinch when we face the inevitable Republican attacks about spending.
The American people support continuing this vital aid, even when presented with Republican spin, and it’s the right thing to do for our long-term economic recovery.
Senator Ron Wyden is the Democratic Chair of the Senate Finance Committee.