Senate Democrats have agreed to lower the weekly unemployment benefit from $400 to $300 per week in their COVID-19 stimulus bill, however they extended them through September, according to Politico.
In addition, the first $10,200 of unemployment benefits will be tax-free, according to the Wall Street Journal, citing an aide.
The changes, included in a new amendment readied by Sen. Tom Carper (D-DE), were hatched by a team of moderate and progressive Democrats, and will be presented during the Senate’s Friday marathon voting session on amendments. It ” also links up the expiration of unemployment benefits with the current lapse of government funding at the end of September,” according to the report.
There’s still plenty of drama ahead during the voting series, with the GOP seeking to inflict maximum political pain, starting midday Friday. The protracted ordeal, known as vote-a-rama, is widely despised by members of both parties and guaranteed to leave sleepless members running on fumes just ahead of the bill’s passage in the upper chamber, likely Saturday. But there’s no way around it.
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer vowed Friday that the Senate would “power through and finish this bill, however long it takes.” –Politico
“It would be so much better if we could in a bipartisan way, but we need to get it done,” said Schumer, who added: “We’re not going to make the same mistake we made after the last economic downturn, when Congress did too little.”- READ MORE
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