Talked to an unemployed worker who stands to gain a lot from the new relief bill's unemployment provisions, but his PUA claim is on hold
So he's THRILLED about the $600 direct payments, which mean $1,800 for his family, possibly before the end of the year huffpost.com/entry/coronavi…
Important thing about this round of payments is that it's $600 per person -- the adult payment is half what it was in the previous round, but there was no corresponding reduction in the dependent payment, which is actually $100 more than before
He still thinks it's ridiculous that lawmakers had such a hard time finding this money.
“When it comes to wars, they have all the money in the world,” he said.
The cool thing about the direct payments is their efficiency. IRS has even had practice blasting those suckers out.
Not like the PPP or unemployment, which get funneled through greedy banks and overwhelmed state workforce agencies that struggle to deliver.
per @pelhamprog of @TCFdotorg the 11 week federal UI extension will be another big lift for state workforce agencies.
“In reality, many workers won’t receive the benefits until well into this short duration, and then the states will be forced to cut it off again."
• • •
Missing some Tweet in this thread? You can try to
force a refresh
The big COVID relief bill continues the ban on federal funding for ACORN, an organization that has not existed for years
In 2018 I went and asked Republicans why they keep doing this and they didn't really know. Tom Cole said it's probably just leftover language that staffers keep on copy-and-pasting.
“we're not negotiating over liability protection. I'll be responsible for putting the final agreement on the floor. And as I said, it will have liability protection in it. So we're not negotiating with the Democrats over that.”
The latest version of the pandemic relief bill reups federal unemployment programs until March 14, gradually winding them down until ending in April.
The gradual phasedown is Republicans not wanting to have an ending "cliff" that pressures them to extend benefits again.
Unfortunately, the plague is not schedule to phase out from March to April, so it's pretty sick, actually.
per source, 11 extra weeks of benefits, which is significant, plus some changes so that people who receive accidental PUA overpayments don't get crushed by repayment requirements.
Senior Dem aide says the last big holdup right now is still Republicans wanting to restrict the Federal Reserve's emergency lending powers created by the CARES Act
The emerging COVID deal negotiated by party leaders includes the extra $300 in unemployment agreed to by the "908 coalition" huffpost.com/entry/coronavi… w/ @taragolshan
That figure is far less than the extra $600 that had been added in the springtime, but still more than the federal government has ever added to benefits before 2020.
Not clear if other aspects of the previously negotiated deal will be included. It called for reauthorizing federal programs for another four months and providing an extra 16 weeks of eligibility.
Dem leaders haven’t signaled they’ll take the bipartisan COVID deal without state aid. Dunno what’s gonna happen.
McConnell has suggested he would, but not actually said so, because in his public remarks he pretends the bipartisan group isn’t happening & refers to his own bills
He also still says there’s gonna be an epidemic of lawsuits like he’s been promising since spring and there still isn’t one