Garamendi Supports Senate Passage of Unemployment Insurance Extension on Bipartisan Vote, Urges House to Immediately Follow

WASHINGTON, DC – Today, Congressman John Garamendi (D-Fairfield, CA) commended the U.S. Senate for working in a bipartisan way to extend emergency unemployment insurance for nearly three million Americans, including 514,300 Californians. The Senate passed the Emergency Unemployment Compensation Extension Act by a vote of 59 to 38, which retroactively extends emergency unemployment insurance through the end of May. Garamendi urged the House of Representatives to vote on similar legislation to get a bill to the President’s desk before more harm is done.

“When emergency unemployment insurance was cut off in December, it caused immeasurable harm to our economy by removing a lifeline helping millions of American families make it during difficult times. These emergency funds helped our friends and neighbors to stay in their homes, afford transportation, and put food on the table while they hunted for a job,” Congressman Garamendi said. “There’s no excuse for the four month delay, but today, the Senate finally moved forward with good bipartisan stopgap legislation to restore jobless benefits for those out of work through no fault of their own. The House should immediately do the same. We can’t afford further delay.”

Last month, Congressman Garamendi joined 192 of his Democratic colleagues in signing a discharge petition requiring the House leadership to schedule a vote on emergency unemployment insurance. If a majority of Members of Congress sign the petition, a vote would occur.

The bipartisan Senate agreement would:

• Retroactively restore emergency unemployment insurance for five months;
• Exclude millionaires from receiving emergency unemployment insurance;
• Strengthen efforts to help get job seekers back into the workforce; and
• Be fully paid for with pension smoothing and extending fees on U.S. customs users through 2024.

“America needs a comprehensive jobs bill including major infrastructure and research investments, and if one were passed in the past three years, perhaps this emergency extension would be unnecessary. Let’s restore emergency unemployment insurance right away and work together to finish America’s recovery from the harm generated by the Great Recession,” Garamendi added.