Temporary expansions in unemployment benefits enacted last March in response to the pandemic are only the beginning of what Democrats have in mind for growing this major entitlement program. That’s why House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) and Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) in December called last month’s extension law just “an important first step that Democrats look forward to building on under the new Biden-Harris Administration.” President Biden’s recent $1.9 trillion “American Rescue Plan” reveals the next steps, which include not only more temporary benefits but also the permanent extension of what Senator Schumer called “unemployment on steroids” — current unprecedented benefits designed to help those in need “during this crisis.”
The nonpartisan Center for a Responsible Federal Budget estimates the Biden plan’s added temporary unemployment benefits could cost $350 billion, or nearly triple the price of the December extension. That would lift federal unemployment benefits since the crisis began in March 2020 to over $850 billion — more than two and a half times the federal support provided in six years during and after the Great Recession. Counting state unemployment checks, total benefits would soar to well over $1 trillion.
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