TOPLINE
Republicans were due to present their proposal for a fifth coronavirus stimulus package on Thursday, the next step in a process that will ultimately decide the fate of aid payments affecting millions of Americans, but Republican lawmakers were unable to decide how to adjust the unemployment payments, delaying the draft until next week.
WASHINGTON, DC – JULY 20: United States President Donald Trump (R) speaks to journalists while hosting the House. … [+]
KEY FACTS
Congress waited with encouragement on Thursday when top Republicans indicated they were ready to reveal their proposal, but ongoing negotiations between the White House and congressional legislators led to a surprising delay, as first reported by the Washington Post and New York times.
Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin, the chief White House negotiator on stimulus, told reporters on Thursday that lawmakers were dealing with “mechanical problems” around unemployment payments.
Republicans have decided to cut unemployment payments of $ 600, which will expire at the end of the week, but cannot agree on a small figure and seem to be against directly zeroing the momentum.
Mnuchin told CNBC Thursday that lawmakers were seeking to extend the benefits “based on a salary replacement of about 70%,” a proposal that would translate into fixed payments from the federal government of about $ 200 per week, $ 400. less than the current sum.
Some Republican lawmakers are unwilling to endorse this plan, the Washington Post reports, because fixed payments of $ 200 do not reflect differences in a worker’s previous earnings.
Instead, some Republicans want the federal government to pay approximately 50% of what each state pays in unemployment benefits.
What to see
Democrats are pushing to extend benefits in full, though it’s unclear if they intend to block an invoice that doesn’t include the full $ 600 benefit.
Critical boss
Senator Ron Wyden (D-Ore.), One of the architects of the $ 600 increase, told the Washington Post that benefits cannot be linked to a worker’s past earnings because state unemployment systems are unable to handle such claims.
AMAZING FACT
Cutting unemployment benefits from $ 600 a week to $ 200 a week would lead to 3.4 million fewer jobs created over the next year, according to a study by the Institute for Economic Policy.
KEY FUND
Congress included a general increase of $ 600 to state unemployment payments as part of the $ 2 billion CARES bill that it passed in March. Lawmakers decided on the $ 600 figure because, when added to the average unemployment payment in 2019 ($ 371.88), it equates to almost 100% of an average US worker per week wage of $ 933, according to figures from the Office of Labor Statistics.
PEG NEWS
Many Republicans were upset with the $ 600 increase in unemployment payments because they felt it created an incentive not to work. A University of Chicago study cited by Wall street journal They found that 68% of unemployed workers eligible for benefits received more money in unemployment payments than in their previous jobs.
OTHER READINGS
Republican Party struggles with overhaul of unemployment system, complicating negotiations over $ 1 trillion stimulusWashington Post)
Are you eligible for a stimulus check on the new Republican Party bill? Here is the latest. (Forbes)
.
