Senate Finally Reauthorizes Jobless Aid Programs

UPDATE: President Obama signed the bill on Thursday evening. Full AP update below.
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The Senate on Thursday reauthorized jobless aid programs which had lapsed after an epic congressional delay that jeopardized emergency unemployment benefits for hundreds of thousands of people. Republicans Olympia Snowe (R-Maine), Susan Collins (R-Maine) and George Voinovich (R-Ohio) joined Democrats to break a GOP filibuster.

The bill extends through the end of May eligibility for Emergency Unemployment Compensation, subsidized COBRA health insurance for laid-off workers, and also the National Flood Insurance Program and increased Medicare reimbursement rates for doctors.

The programs lapsed on April 5, after Congress adjourned at the end of March for its Easter break, causing an estimated 200,000 people to prematurely lose their unemployment benefits in just one week, according to the National Employment Law Project.

"I think it's very disappointing that it took this long," Sen. Debbie Stabenow (D-Mich.) told HuffPost after the vote. "We have people who are out of work who have gone through emotional rollercoasters every time Republicans come forward and block this bill... It's a very sad commentary every time we go through this."

Democrats attempted to reauthorize the enhanced benefits as the break neared but gave up and adjourned, knowing the programs would lapse, when Sen. Tom Coburn (R-Okla.) refused to play along with a motion for "unanimous consent." Coburn said before the break that he didn't understand why Democrats didn't stay an extra two days to try to break his filibuster, since he thought they would win over enough Republicans to do so (which, in the end, they did).

Republicans argued that the cost of the extensions ought to be paid for with unused stimulus funds, and that the disruption of a missed check to the lives of the unemployed was a fair price to pay for shrinking the nation's trillion dollar deficit. Democrats argued that the programs ought to be reauthorized on an emergency basis, exempt from pay-as-you-go rules.

Economist Mark Zandi, a former adviser to Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.), said Wednesday during a Senate Finance Committee hearing that it was more important to reauthorize the benefits than to worry about deficit spending.

It's the second time in a month that a GOP stand on deficit reduction resulted in panic and confusion among laid off workers receiving unemployment benefits.

"It's been a good debate," said Reid before the voting started on Thursday.

An amendment by Sen. Max Baucus (D-Mont.) changed the measure so that the eligibility deadline will be pushed back through the end of May, instead of for just 30 days. Had the Senate passed another 30-day extension, it would have been the third one since December and it would have guaranteed another round of partisan deficit grandstanding a month from now.

Both the House and Senate have already passed bills that extend eligibility for Emergency Unemployment Compensation through the end of 2010, but because they used different funding sources, the bills must be combined in a conference committee. A Democratic aide told HuffPost that that will probably happen five weeks from now.

"[Today's vote] is a positive first step but Congress cannot waste any time in making sure that these benefits are extended through the end of the year," said Judy Conti, a lobbyist for the NELP. "That must be out of the way so they can focus on job creation and what to do for those who are exhausting all levels of benefits but still cannot find jobs."

Asked if there could be another blowup and disruption over the long-term extension, Stabenow said "anything could happen."

Because the Senate made amendments, the House has to vote on the bill before the reauthorization can take effect. A vote is planned for Thursday night.

AP Update:

Just hours after Congress passed an $18 billion bill to restore unemployment benefits for the long-term unemployed, President Barack Obama made it the law of the land.

Obama signed the bill when he returned to the White House on Thursday night from fundraisers in Miami and a speech earlier in the day at Cape Canaveral, presidential spokesman Bill Burton said.

Obama thanked Congress for passing the temporary extension, saying it was critical to help struggling families make ends meet.

"Millions of Americans who lost their jobs in this economic crisis depend on unemployment and health insurance benefits to get by as they look for work and get themselves back on their feet," Obama said in a statement. "But as I requested in my budget, I urge Congress to move quickly to extend these benefits through the end of this year."