Unemployment benefit votes

The following are votes taken on whether to extend or expand unemployment benefits.

H.R. 5618


This vote was on final passage of the bill. A vote in favor was a vote for extending unemployment benefits.

The bill would extend the filing deadline for extended unemployment insurance benefits until Nov. 30, 2010. It does not contain the extra $25 per month from the Federal Additional Compensation program that was passed in the 2009 stimulus bill. It also would not create a fifth tier of benefits; 99 weeks would still be the maximum amount of time a person coud receive benefits payments. It would, however, pay benefits back retroactively to individuals who have seen their payment cut off since the deadline for filing for new tiers of benefits expired on June 1.



A vote in favor was a vote for expanding unemployment benefits.

The bill that was rejected ... would have extended UI benefit payments, which expired in late May, until November 30, 2010. Without the extension, some 1.7 million unemployed people will lose their payment by Jul 3. Benefits for the unemployed will continue to run out at a rate of about 200,000 per week until an extension is signed into law.

H.R. 4213


A vote in favor of the bill would extend unemployment benefits. This was another vote to end cloture on 4213 so it could move towards final passage. This version of the bill (S. Amdt. 4425) costs about $34 billion. It:
 * Extended unemployment insurance for people who have been out of work for 6 months or longer.
 * Extends the filing deadline for unemployment insurance benefits from June 2nd to Nov. 30th, 2010, allowing unemployed individuals who exhaust their current tier of benefits, or who have exhausted their last tier since June 2nd, to move into the next tier of benefits.
 * Allows benefits to be paid back retroactively for people who have seen their payments cut off since the filing deadline expired on June 2nd.
 * Includes an extension of the closing deadline for first-time homebuyers tax credit (which was also passed on July 2nd through H.R. 5623).
 * Raises $146 million in revenue over ten years through changes to the Travel Promotion Act, crack-downs on tax fraud committed by prisoners and recessions from the Defense Department budget.



A vote in favor of the bill would extend unemployment benefits. This was another vote to end cloture under the same provisions as the previous vote.



A vote in favor of the bill would extend unemployment benefits.

These changes would cut the deficit impact of the bill by about $22 billion, leaving just $33 billion unpaid for. Most of that $33 billion would be used for the extended unemployment benefits, which are designated “emergency spending” and not subject to congressional offset rules known as pay-as-you-go. Even with all these new cuts in the bill, reports are indicating that Republicans will continue to filibuster. Despite shaving another $22 billion off the price tag of H.R. 4213, the unemployment insurance, jobs and tax extenders bill, the Democrats this afternoon failed for the third time in three weeks to defeat a Republican filibuster



A vote in favor of this bill would extend unemployment benefits.

Senate Democrats tried once again last night to overcome a budget point of order against their unemployment insurance/tax extenders bill, this time on a pared-down version, and failed 56-40. Sixty votes were needed. Sen. Ben Nelson [D, NE] and Sen. Joe Lieberman [I, CT] joined all Republicans in voting down the bill. Once again, Democrats are downsizing H.R. 4213, the unemployment insurance/tax extenders bill, in order to lessen its impact on the deficit and round up the support to pass it.



A vote in favor of this bill would extend unemployment benefits.

The bill would, among other things, extend the filing deadline to November 30, 2010 for people whose unemployment benefits are expiring and are looking to move into the next tier of extended federal benefits. The current deadline took effect on June 2, and has already caused about 400,000 unemployed Americans to see their extended benefits end prematurely.



A vote in favor of this bill would extend unemployment benefits.

After cutting COBRA health care benefits for the unemployed and Medicaid funds for states with budget problems, the House has finally passed their economic recovery bill, the American Jobs and Closing Tax Loopholes Act of 2010.



A vote in favor of this bill would would extend unemployment benefits.

This bill would extend the filing deadline for existing tiers of unemployment benefits until November 30, 2010 and extend for three month the closing deadline for first-time homebuyers looking to get the $8,000 tax credit.

H.R. 4851


A vote in favor of this bill would extend unemployment benefits.

After initially faltering, the Senate last night approved a substitute amendment to the unemployment filing extension bill. The amendment does two things: 1) It extends the filing deadline for people who have exhausted tiers 1-3 of their UI benefits and need to apply for subsequent tiers until June 2nd. The underlying bill would have only extended it until May 5th. 2) It would allow the more 400,000 people who have exhausted their benefits since the filing deadline expired on April 5th to receive back payments. The bill will extend the deadline until May 5, at which point they will probably be back for another big partisan fight over extending it once again.



A vote in favor of this bill would extend unemployment benefits.

The bill would extend the filing deadline for people who are eligible for the next tier of unemployment insurance until May 5, 2010. It would not create a fifth tier of benefits, so peple who use up their 99 weeks of UI benefits would not be affected by the bill.

H.R. 4691


A vote in favor of this bill would extend unemployment benefits.

Sen. Jim Bunning’s [R, KY] one-man filibuster came to an end last night allowing the Senate to pass an emergency extension for unemployment benefits.

H.R. 2847


A vote in favor of this bill would extend unemployment benefits.

The House passed a jobs bill in December (H.R. 2847) that included a six-month UI benefit and COBRA health care subsidy extension among other things.

H.R. 3548


The lone “no” vote on today’s cloture vote was Sen. Jim DeMint [R, SC]. The final vote on passage will require a simple majority of 51 votes to be approved. After that it goes back to the House of Representatives, which is expected to agree to the Senate’s changes and send it to President Obama for his signature quickly.



It would extend unemployment insurance benefits by 14 weeks in all states and by an additional 6 weeks for 20 weeks total in states with a three-month average unemployment rate above 8.5 percent.



The Senate this afternoon approved a motion to move forward on their bill to extend unemployment insurance benefits (H.R. 3548). The motion to overcome Republican objections and proceed to an official debate of the bill was approved by a vote of 87-13. The bill under discussion would extend benefits for people who have exhausted them by 14 weeks in all states and by an additional 6 percent in states with unemployment rates above 8.5 percent.

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The Senate Democrats’ bill would extend unemployment insurance benefits for jobless Americans who have exhausted their benefits by 14 more weeks. In states with unemployment rates above 8.5 percent, the benefits would be extended for an additional 6 weeks on top of that. As Adam Doster at Progress Illinois notes, the bill will not grant the benefits retroactively for people who exhaust their benefits before the bill is signed into law.

S.181
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A vote in favor of this bill would extend unemployment benefits.

An amendment was included in the FY 2010 Defense Department spending bill continued extended unemployment benefits and COBRA health insurance subsidies for the long-term jobless through Feb. 28, 2010. The programs were due to expire Dec. 31. The bill passed the Senate Dec. 19 on a vote of 88-10 (R: 29-10; D: 59-0)