Unemployment Insurance: Legislative Issues in the 116th Congress (CRS Report for Congress)
Premium Purchase PDF for $24.95 (48 pages)
add to cart or
subscribe for unlimited access
Pro Premium subscribers have free access to our full library of CRS reports.
Subscribe today, or
request a demo to learn more.
| Release Date |
Revised March 8, 2021 |
| Report Number |
R45478 |
| Report Type |
Report |
| Authors |
Julie M. Whittaker, Katelin P. Isaacs |
| Source Agency |
Congressional Research Service |
| Older Revisions |
-
Premium Revised Jan. 27, 2021 (49 pages, $24.95)
add
-
Premium Revised Nov. 9, 2020 (40 pages, $24.95)
add
-
Premium Revised Sept. 15, 2020 (38 pages, $24.95)
add
-
Premium Revised July 23, 2020 (32 pages, $24.95)
add
-
Premium Revised June 11, 2020 (30 pages, $24.95)
add
-
Premium Revised April 10, 2020 (26 pages, $24.95)
add
-
Premium Revised March 16, 2020 (17 pages, $24.95)
add
-
Premium Revised Oct. 3, 2019 (16 pages, $24.95)
add
-
Premium Revised May 3, 2019 (15 pages, $24.95)
add
-
Premium Revised March 28, 2019 (15 pages, $24.95)
add
-
Premium Jan. 29, 2019 (15 pages, $24.95)
add
|
Summary:
The 116th Congress recently enacted benefits related to two unemployment insurance (UI) programs: Unemployment Compensation (UC) and Disaster Unemployment Assistance (DUA). Congress has continued to consider modifications to these two programs within the federal-state UI system to provide weekly income replacement for individuals unavailable to work or unemployed as a result of COVID-19.
On March 18, 2020, President Trump signed P.L. 116-127 (H.R. 6201), the Families First Coronavirus Response Act, into law. The UI provisions in the Families First Coronavirus Response Act provide various types of assistance to states, including up to $1 billion in emergency administrative grant funding in calendar year 2020 for administrative purposes. This law also removes through December 2020 the current incentive in UI law for states to have a waiting week for their regular UC programs.
On March 24, 2020, President Trump signed P.L. 116-136 (H.R. 748), the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (CARES) Act, into law. The UI provisions in the CARES Act include expanded benefit eligibility to the self-employed, independent contractors, gig economy workers, and other workers not covered under state UC programs through a new temporary Pandemic Unemployment Assistance (PUA), which builds on DUA as a model and is authorized through December 2020. Other provisions expanded potential weeks of UI benefits through the Pandemic Emergency Unemployment Compensation (PEUC; authorized through December 2020) and also augment all UI benefits with an additional $600 weekly Federal Pandemic Unemployment Compensation (FPUC) benefit through July 2020.
In the 116th Congress, policymakers have introduced the following additional legislation:
S. 165, H.R. 720, H.R. 725, H.R. 1117, and H.R. 4072ârelated to Unemployment Compensation for Federal Employees (UCFE) benefits in response to the partial government shutdown that occurred during FY2019;
S. 136 and H.R. 556âto provide self-employment and relocation assistance benefits;
H.R. 1121âto screen individuals for drug use;
H.R. 1585âto require that states consider an individual who quit employment because of sexual harassment, domestic violence, sexual assault, or stalking to be eligible for UC benefits; and
H.R. 1759âto amend Title III of the Social Security Act to extend Reemployment Services and Eligibility Assessments (RESEA) to all UC claimants; and
H.R. 6199, H.R. 6207, H.R. 6271, S. 3476, S. 3482, and S. 3497âto amend federal UI law in various ways in response to the coronavirus outbreak (COVID-19).
For a brief overview of UC, see CRS In Focus IF10336, The Fundamentals of Unemployment Compensation. For an overview of DUA, see CRS Report RS22022, Disaster Unemployment Assistance (DUA).
