Senate Democrats strike deal for $300 unemployment benefits boost into September
The new arrangement would also make the first $10,200 worth of benefits tax-free for households with annual incomes less than $150,000.
But what happens to two key pandemic unemployment programs that start phasing out after next weekend is unclear.
Extending special pandemic programs
The Pandemic Unemployment Assistance program provides benefits to freelancers, gig workers, independent contractors and certain people affected by the pandemic, while the Pandemic Emergency Unemployment Compensation program increases the duration of payments for those in the traditional state unemployment system.
The White House said Friday night that Biden accepts the Senate’s changes.
“The President supports the compromise agreement and is grateful to all the senators who worked so hard to reach this outcome,” press secretary Jen Psaki said. “It extends supplemental unemployment benefit into September and helps the vast majority of unemployment insurance recipients avoid unanticipated tax bills.”
Racing toward a deadline
The differences in the Senate and House bills, however, are one more issue the two chambers have to work out before they send the final legislation to the President for his signature.
Lawmakers’ self-imposed deadline of March 14 for passing the relief package is fast approaching. That’s when out-of-work Americans will start running out of benefits in the two programs, which will then phase out over the subsequent month. The $300 enhancement also ends next weekend.
Even if lawmakers finish the bill in coming days, some jobless Americans may see a lapse in benefits since it can take a few weeks for state unemployment agencies to program the new provisions into their systems.
This story has been updated to reflect the latest Senate negotiations.
CNN’s Manu Raju and Phil Mattingly contributed to this report.
