House Passes Jobless Benefit Extension

Published: July 22, 2010 - New York Times

WASHINGTON — The House approved legislation on Thursday that would restore unemployment pay for millions of Americans who have exhausted their standard benefits. The bill was sent to President Obama for his signature, and administration officials said Mr. Obama would sign it immediately.

The $34 billion measure was the subject of a fierce partisan battle in Congress over whether the cost should be offset with spending cuts or tax increases to avoid enlarging the federal deficit, as Republican opponents demanded. Democrats countered that the economic crisis amounted to a fiscal emergency, permitting the measure to be financed with deficit spending.

The vote in the House was 272 to 152, with 31 Republicans joining 241 Democrats in supporting the measure. Voting against were 142 Republicans and 10 Democrats.

“Today we put this sad chapter behind us,” said Representative Sander Levin, Democrat of Michigan and chairman of the Ways and Means Committee.

The fact that 31 Republicans sided with the Democratic majority showed the political sensitivity of the issue. Though they have been voting almost unanimously against most Democratic proposals, Republicans were somewhat splintered on the unemployment question.

The extended unemployment benefits, traditionally provided by the federal government in times of high joblessness, were caught in a stalemate from the end of May until a crucial vote in the Senate on Tuesday; over those six weeks, benefits ran out for an estimated 2 million Americans without jobs.

Democrats accused their opponents of employing a double standard, saying that Republicans who insisted on offsetting the cost of extended benefits with spending cuts never did the same to pay for tax cuts for affluent Americans.

Republicans, on the other hand, said the deficit was growing so large that the federal government could not afford to dole out more aid without reducing spending elsewhere.

“Republicans want to help those looking for work,” said Representative Charles Boustany, Republican of Louisiana. “We want to help those who are struggling with the current economic slowdown. But we also agree with the American people that new spending must be paid for.”

Both parties expect the fight over the unemployment benefits, which flared repeatedly all year, to be a defining issue in the November mid-term elections.