WASHINGTON — Congress is braced for a new, unpredictable battle this week over whether to fund more aid for jobless workers as an estimated 1.2 million people face having their benefits cut off next month unless lawmakers act.
The debate, expected to begin today in the House, will be the third time this year that these provisions have faced expired funding.
In the first two instances, Congress initially balked, as some Republicans were upset that the funding wasn’t paid for with spending cuts. At one point in early April, Congress left for a 16-day spring recess without funding the benefits.
Congress eventually approved an extension, but it expires June 2. This time, the prospects are getting dicey.
At the National Employment Law Project, a liberal-leaning activist group that Monday provided the 1.2 million estimate, lobbyist Judy Conti said that “it’s anybody’s guess” what Congress will do this time.
Maurice Emsellem, the group’s co-director of policy, said that if Congress doesn’t act soon, some states could find themselves in worse straits than when they stepped in before to provide benefits for 13 to 20 weeks. “The states will have to plan around the extensions not coming,” he said.
About 9.8 million people are collecting jobless benefits.
What concerns moderate Democrats, as well as most Republicans, is the estimate by the nonpartisan CBO that passing the jobless plan, which includes several other provisions, could increase the federal deficit by about $133.7 billion over 10 years.
“We have to start taking concrete steps to curb unnecessary deficit spending, and that means taking a close look at anything that is not offset or that we designate as emergency,” said Rep. Stephanie Herseth Sandlin of South Dakota, a key centrist Democrat. “I am hearing strong concerns about voting on a package with such a large price tag.”
