The House Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Crisis is calling on Congress to extend the $600 weekly federal unemployment benefit which is due to expire on July 31.
During a virtual
hearing to examine the magnitude of the unemployment crisis brought on by
COVID-19, experts testified that the crisis disproportionately hurts women,
people of color, and workers in low-wage jobs.
They warned that record-high unemployment will likely last
for months, and said Congress should act to extend the benefit which is due to
expire in July. The witnesses explained that a lasting economic recovery will
not happen until the federal government successfully controls the spread of the
coronavirus.
At the hearing, the Committee heard testimony from Michele
Evermore, Senior Researcher and Policy Analyst, National Employment Law
Project; William E. Spriggs, PhD, Chief Economist, AFL-CIO Professor,
Department of Economics, Howard University; Jason Furman, PhD, Professor,
Harvard Kennedy School of Government and Department of Economics at Harvard
University; and Rachel Greszler, Research Fellow in Economics, Budget and
Entitlements at the Heritage Foundation.
Professor Furman called the current unemployment situation “the
worst crisis the American labor market has faced on record.”
According to Professor Spriggs: “If you are one of the
workers in the affected industries, the effective unemployment rate is 34
percent. If you are Black or Latino in
those industries, it is 38 percent … Because these workers face discrimination,
because they are disparately Black and Latino and female, in the labor market
they will have a harder time regaining employment.”
Evermore added, “We are dealing with an international
pandemic that has forced us to shut down our economy for the sake of saving
lives. … Although we are slowly starting
to reopen our economy, we cannot pretend that everything will go back to normal
in the next few weeks, months, or even years.”
The $600 weekly federal unemployment benefit was included as
part of the CARES Act to act as a type of financial buffer as the virus shut down
the country.
With unemployment numbers remaining close to seven million Americans and the subsidy set to expire July 31, Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell has also cautioned Congress that additional spending may be needed to prop up U.S. growth.
While House Democrats want to introduce an extended stimulus package that would run through Jan, 2021, Senate Republicans and the White House have so far remained on the fence.
New York Congresswoman Carolyn Maloney, who sits on the Select
Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Crisis, said, “This crisis is far from over. In
fact, I fear it may be getting worse.
“We must continue to provide relief for the millions of
Americans who are unemployed. I urge our colleagues in the Senate to take up
the Heroes Act and support the extension of unemployment benefits.
“In New York, we have seen some of the highest rates of
infections and deaths from this terrible crisis. Thanks to the sacrifices of
New Yorkers and the bravery or our frontline heroes, we have finally bent our
curve, and we are cautiously seeking to return to some increased activity. We
are still in the first wave, and clearly this virus is not contained.”
