NATIONAL EMERGENCY:

Though Nation’s Unemployment Rate Is Increasing, Benefits Are Set To Expire May 31

Rep. Cardin, leading Democrat on the Ways and Means Subcommittee on Human Resources, declared, "There is no excuse for discontinuing unemployment benefits when jobs are scarce. Unfortunately, our Republican friends seem to be looking for a reaso—any reason—to end benefits for dislocated workers. Most recently, they conducted a hearing designed to suggest that unemployment benefits are actually causing unemployment."

The Congressman, along with Rep. Charles Rangel, D-NY, has sponsored legislation to extend unemployment benefits for all dislocated workers. The Rangel-Cardin bill (H.R. 1652) would help nearly 4 million jobless Americans over the next six months. It would continue the extended benefits program for an additional six months, increase the amount of benefits to 26 weeks, include coverage for the one million workers who have already exhausted their extended benefits, and expand unemployment insurance coverage for low-wage and part-time workers. If such legislation is not enacted, the extended benefits program will expire on May 31, leading to millions of families being denied needed unemployment insurance benefits.

Reps. Cardin and Rangel also have proposed a new initiative to encourage businesses to hire unemployed workers. This measure calls for a targeted tax cut that directly helps the long-term unemployed get new jobs. The tax credit would be the same as the current Work Opportunity Tax Credit (WOTC), but it would give employers an immediate incentive to hire Americans not normally covered under the WOTC but who have been unemployed at least six months. Under this proposal, a company creating a job for an unemployed person would get a tax credit worth up to $2,400 (40% of the first $6,000 in annual wages).

"In combination, these two proposals will help struggling families, promote jobs, and stimulate the economy," said Rep. Cardin in a prepared statement to the press.