A major battle is brewing in Congress over whether to extend the $600 federal bonus added to weekly unemployment checks. The bonus, created in March to “make whole” the workers laid off due to the coronavirus lockdowns, expires at the end of July, but efforts to extend it are already turning into a battle to expand unemployment benefits well into the future, long after the pandemic has ended.
The nation’s unemployment insurance system is administered by states under broad federal rules. Typically, states offer up to 26 weeks of benefits that replace nearly half a laid-off worker’s previous wages while he or she searches for work. In almost every major recession between 1957 and 2007, the federal government temporarily paid states to provide more benefits to individuals after their state unemployment insurance checks stopped. These emergency benefits added up to an extra 13, 20, 26, or even 33 weeks of benefits, depending on the recession.
