XPost: alt.gossip.celebrities, alt.politics.democrats.d, sac.general   
   XPost: alt.rush-limbaugh   
   From: asshole.progressives@nytimes.com   
      
   Even as Congress inches closer to striking a deal on another   
   coronavirus relief bill, experts say jobless benefits for an   
   estimated 12 million people will lapse at least temporarily in   
   the coming week.   
      
   Lawmakers are still working out exactly what will be in the next   
   bill, including the number of weeks it will extend unemployment   
   insurance (UI) for gig workers and independent contractors   
   qualifying for it through the Pandemic Unemployment Assistance   
   (PUA) program and the long-term unemployed who have maxed out   
   their benefits from the Pandemic Emergency Unemployment   
   Compensation (PEUC) program. Earlier today, the relief bill   
   seemed poised to extend the benefits for 10 weeks.   
      
   But even if Congress manages to pass a bill before the benefits   
   officially expire on Dec. 26, “it takes usually around two to   
   three weeks to turn benefits back on,” says Michele Evermore, a   
   senior policy analyst at the National Employment Law Project.   
   That means that starting next week, the millions of people   
   currently receiving PUA and long-term benefits will at least   
   temporarily lose their weekly payments.   
      
   That’s because each state operates its own UI system, and it   
   takes time to get them running each time the law changes, says   
   Evermore. This same dynamic played out earlier this year, when   
   President Donald Trump signed an executive order to use funds   
   from FEMA to provide an extra $300 in benefits for a few weeks,   
   after enhanced benefits of $600 per week expired at the end of   
   July. It took some states months to get the extra funds to those   
   who were eligible.   
      
   That said, while there may be a lag in actually receiving the   
   payments, there should not be a gap in eligibility, Evermore   
   wrote in a blog post. So when states are able to start making   
   payments, they should be retroactive to the start date in the   
   final bill.   
      
   Again, all of this will depend on what Congress actually   
   includes in the bill, and if and when it passes. Currently,   
   unemployment benefits are reportedly one of the sticking points   
   in negotiations: Already, the bill being negotiated has   
   reportedly changed from providing 16 additional weeks of UI to   
   10.   
      
   The bill will also reportedly include a second, slimmed-down   
   stimulus check, which could likely make it into some Americans’   
   bank accounts faster than continued UI benefits.   
      
   https://www.cnbc.com/2020/12/18/millions-to-lose-jobless-   
   benefits-temporarily-even-with-covid-deal.html   
       
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)