FOr millions of unemployed Americans facing the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression, a government payment of $ 600 per week has been a vital lifesaver, allowing them to keep their homes and put food on the table despite losing their jobs.
But now, many of those affected by the economic disaster caused by the coronavirus pandemic are preparing for a sharp drop in earnings this week, as the Republican party’s internal struggles delay a replacement for an expansion to weekly unemployment benefits, which means that many could have that vital cut. taken away.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said Wednesday that the Democrats’ proposal to continue the program, which expires Friday, until the end of the year, was “completely deranged,” while members of his own party criticized. your proposed replacement.
At the bottom of these 11-hour negotiations are the financial livelihoods of 30 million unemployed Americans and their families, many of whom have struggled to obtain timely and accurate payments due to the country’s archaic unemployment infrastructure.
Jamie, a 68-year-old Pilates instructor in Florida, immediately applied for unemployment when she lost her job in the first week of March. For six weeks, the unemployment office did not recognize her application, so she sought the help of Coast to Coast Legal Aid of South Florida, an advocacy group.
“I had not had any benefit in three months,” he said. “So I was zero, zero, zero, zero, zero until Legal Aid stepped in to help.”
Jamie, who did not want her last name used, moved out of her apartment because she couldn’t pay the rent and has been living with a relative.
In late May, he received the benefits he was entitled to, but on Wednesday his check was inexplicably less than it should have been.
“We live in a rich country that has all the resources. I think we shouldn’t have to live this way because of the pandemic, “he said. “There are other countries that don’t have this problem.”
Debates over whether to renew the $ 600 expansion have been confused by Republicans, and also by anecdotal news claiming, without data, that money is “disincentivizing” people to return to work. It is estimated that between 40% and 68% of workers get more from the expansion, which is paid in addition to state benefits, than they did on the job, but economists have found that this has not deterred people. to look for work.
Those who benefit the most from the expansion are low-wage workers (the expanded benefit equals $ 15 an hour) and people of color and women are over-represented in sectors with the highest unemployment rates. The Congressional Budget Office said that of the 19 million workers who received unemployment insurance in July, 47% are people of color and 53% are women.
No one has said the $ 600 raise is the perfect solution, but experts say a replacement should be manageable for overwhelmed state unemployment offices.
On Monday, Republicans proposed reducing payments to $ 200 a week through October. Then, states are expected to implement a system that provides people with a 70% salary replacement, capped at $ 500, until the end of the year.
State agencies could take eight to 20 weeks to implement the salary replacement scheme, according to a memo from the National Association of State Workforce Agencies, obtained by Bloomberg.
Rebecca Dixon, executive director of the National Employment Law Project, said “nothing could be more ill-conceived” than cutting the $ 600 benefit.
“They are asking these already underfunded and overworked agencies to do really extreme amounts of computer reprogramming, taking away the current delivery of benefits, for a program that expires on December 31, 2020,” Dixon said. .
Democrats, who want to extend the program until economic conditions improve, said the proposal was “totally inadequate.” At least two Republican senators have also denounced the plan.
Republicans in Congress also disagree with the White House on other elements of the $ 1 trillion stimulus proposal, including Donald Trump’s desire to include funds for the FBI building.
Trump said Tuesday at the White House that he was still negotiating with Republicans about parts of the bill he opposed. “It is a bit irrelevant because Democrats are responding to their needs and asking for them, and Republicans are going with theirs,” Trump said.
Some Republicans have suggested that because of the divisions, they may have to pass narrower legislation to address disagreements piece by piece.
At the heart of these disagreements is the ongoing crisis in overwhelmed state unemployment agencies.
Laurie Yadoff, a legal aid attorney who helped Jamie collect unemployment, said that although Florida’s unemployment system works better than when the pandemic started, there are still many unresolved issues.
Yadoff represents about 150 people in Florida’s Broward County, just north of Miami. Her clients include 80-year-olds who work during the pandemic because social security doesn’t cover all of their needs and people who earn as little as $ 54 a week in state unemployment.
He said the problems his clients face include waiting hours to speak to a representative at the unemployment office, not receiving full payments for those who qualify and simply not having their claims processed. As of Monday, 82,000 claims by Florida residents were under review, according to their unemployment office.
Yadoff said that most of his clients “just received their money sometime in late May, maybe June, some are still receiving money in July for the first time and I think some people have not received it yet.”
Those who have received their checks are paying past due rent and utility bills, paying credit card debt, and stocking up on food after spending months without income.
This, his client Jamie said, is what is missing from the discussions in Washington.
“We are not the main priority, we are secondary,” Jamie said. “First comes the business, first comes this, first comes that. Other places said, “Let’s take care of people first, we’ll solve the rest.”
