Unemployment Insurance Provisions in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009

[Excerpt] The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (P.L. 111-5, also known as ARRA or the 2009 stimulus package), contains several provisions affecting unemployment benefits, described below. • ARRA increases unemployment benefits by $25 per week for all recipients of regular unemployment compensation (UC), extended benefits (EB), emergency unemployment compensation (EUC08), Trade Adjustment Assistance (TAA) programs, and Disaster Unemployment Assistance (DUA). Supplemental compensation would be available from the time a state enters into an agreement with the Labor Secretary and ending before January 1, 2010 (with grandfathering). • The act extends the temporary EUC08 program through December 26, 2009 (with grandfathering), to be financed by federal general revenues. • It provides for 100• ARRA allows states the option of changing temporarily the eligibility requirements for the EB program in order to expand the number of persons eligible for EB benefits, to end before June 1, 2010. • It provides for an additional 13 weeks to the maximum amount of time railroad workers may receive extended unemployment benefits. • The legislation suspends income taxation on the first$2,400 of unemployment benefits received in 2009, for taxable years beginning after December 31, 2008. • It provides relief to states from the payment and accrual of interest on federal loans to states for the payment of unemployment benefits, from enactment of the stimulus package on February 17, 2009 through December 31, 2010. • ARRA provides for a special transfer of up to $7 billion in federal monies to state unemployment programs as “incentive payments” for changing certain state UC laws. All incentive payments must be made before October 1, 2011. States do not need to repay these sums to the federal government. Any changes that states make to state unemployment programs as a result of ARRA’s modernization provisions would be permanent. • Finally, the act transfers a total of$500 million to the states for administering their unemployment programs, within 30 days of enactment of the 2009 stimulus package. States do not need to repay these sums to the federal government. This report addresses some of the more common questions about unemployment insurance in the 2009 stimulus package. This report does not provide operational details of unemployment insurance programs such as UC, EB, or EUC08, nor does it address the TAA or DUA programs

Temporary Extension of Unemployment Benefits: Emergency Unemployment Compensation (EUC08)

[Excerpt] In July 2008, a new temporary unemployment benefit, the Emergency Unemployment Compensation (EUC08) program, began. The program\u27s authorization ended on November 27, 2010. EUC08 was created by P.L. 110-252, and it has been amended by P.L. 110-449, P.L. 111-5, P.L. 111-92, P.L. 111-118, P.L. 111-144, P.L. 111-157, and P.L. 111-205. Most recently, P.L. 111-205 extended the authorization of the EUC08 program, but did not change the structure of the program or augment benefits. This temporary unemployment insurance program provides up to 20 additional weeks of unemployment benefits to certain workers who have exhausted their rights to regular unemployment compensation (UC) benefits. A second tier of benefits provides up to an additional 14 weeks of benefits (for a total of up to 34 weeks of EUC08 benefits for all unemployed workers). A third tier is available in states with a total unemployment rate of at least 6% and provides up to an additional 13 weeks of EUC08 benefits (for a total of up to 47 weeks of EUC08 benefits in certain states). A fourth tier is available in states with a total unemployment rate of at least 8.5% and provides up to an additional six weeks of EUC08 benefits (for a total of up to 53 weeks of EUC08 benefits in certain states). All tiers of EUC08 benefits are temporary and expired on the week ending on or before November 30, 2010. Those beneficiaries receiving tier I, II, III, or IV of EUC08 benefits before November 27, 2010 (November 28, 2010, in New York) are grandfathered for their remaining weeks of eligibility for that particular tier only. There will be no new entrants into any tier of the EUC08 program after November 27, 2010. If an individual is eligible to continue to receive his or her remaining EUC08 benefit tier after November 27, 2010, that individual would not be entitled to tier II benefits once those tier I benefits were exhausted. No EUC08 benefits—regardless of tier—are payable for any week after April 30, 2011. P.L. 111-92 expanded benefits available in the EUC08 program, creating two new tiers of benefits (bringing total benefit tiers to four) and adding 20 weeks of EUC08 benefits (for a total of up to 53 benefit weeks). P.L. 111-118 extended the EUC08 program, the 100% federal financing of the Extended Benefit (EB) program, and the $25 Federal Additional Compensation (FAC) weekly benefit through February 28, 2010. P.L. 111-144 and P.L. 111-157 extended these same three measures until April 5, 2010, and June 2, 2010, respectively. On July 22, 2010, the President signed P.L. 111-205, the Unemployment Compensation Extension Act of 2010, into law. P.L. 111-205 extended the availability of EUC08 and 100$25 FAC benefit, which expired on May 29, 2010 (May 30, 2010, for New York). The latest version of H.R. 4853—as well as S. 3981 and S. 3990—would extend the authorization for the EUC08 program and the 100% federal financing of EB until the beginning of January 2012. H.R. 6419 would extend these same provisions through February 2011. This report will be updated to reflect current congressional action or programmatic changes. Individuals should contact their state\u27s unemployment agency to obtain information on how to apply for and receive EUC08 benefits. The U.S. Department of Labor maintains a website with links to each state\u27s agency at http://www.workforcesecurity.doleta.gov/map.asp

Compensated Work Sharing Arrangements (Short-Time Compensation) as an Alternative to Layoffs

This report describes short-term compensation (STC) as a beneficial alternative to layoffs. It also describes the status of STC (or work sharing) in the U.S., particularly as it varies from state to state

Unemployment Compensation: Short-Time Compensation and Compensated Work Sharing Arrangements

This report contains the short-term compensation and compensated work sharing arrangements on unemployment compensation

Social Security: The Windfall Elimination Provision (WEP)

This report discusses the windfall elimination provision (WEP), which reduces the Social Security benefits of workers who also have pension benefits from employment not covered by Social Security. Its purpose is to remove an advantage these workers would otherwise receive because Social Security’s benefit formula is weighted such that workers with low lifetime earnings receive a greater share of their covered earnings in benefits than workers with medium or high lifetime earnings. Opponents contend that the provision is basically imprecise and can be unfair

Social Security: Revisiting Benefits for Spouses and Survivors

This report describes the current-law structure of auxiliary benefits for spouses, divorced spouses and surviving spouses. It also discusses some of the issues concerning the adequacy and equity of the current-law structure of auxiliary benefits, and presents some recent proposals

Temporary Extension of Unemployment Benefits: Emergency Unemployment Compensation (EUC08)

This report discusses the new temporary unemployment benefit, the various tiers of the Emergency Unemployment Compensation (EUC08) program, as well as related legislation

Temporary Extension of Unemployment Benefits: Emergency Unemployment Compensation (EUC08)

In July 2008, a new temporary unemployment benefit, the Emergency Unemployment Compensation (EUC08) program, began. The most recent legislation, P.L. 111-205, extended the authorization of the EUC08 program, but did not change the structure of the program or augment benefits. This temporary unemployment insurance program provides up to 20 additional weeks of unemployment benefits to certain workers who have exhausted their rights to regular unemployment compensation (UC) benefits. This report discusses the various tiers of the EUC08 program, as well as related legislation. This report will be updated to reflect current congressional action or programmatic changes

Reaching the Debt Limit: Background and Potential Effects on Government Operations

The gross federal debt, which represents the federal government's total outstanding debt, consists of two types of debt: (1) debt held by the public and (2) debt held in government accounts, also known as intragovernmental debt. Federal government borrowing increases for two primary reasons: (1) budget deficits and (2) investments of any federal government account surpluses in Treasury securities, as required by law. Nearly all of this debt is subject to the statutory limit. The federal debt limit currently stands at $14,294 billion

Reaching the Debt Limit: Background and Potential Effects on Government Operations

This report examines the possibility of the federal government reaching its statutory debt limit and not raising it, with a particular focus on government operations. First, the report explains the nature of the federal government's debt, the processes associated with federal borrowing, and historical events that may influence prospective actions. It also includes an analysis of what could happen if the federal government may no longer issue debt, has exhausted alternative sources of cash, and, therefore, depends on incoming receipts or other sources of funds to provide any cash needed to liquidate federal obligations. Finally this report lays out considerations for increasing the debt limit under current policy and what impact fiscal policy could have on the debt limit going forward