U.S. Sen. Michael Bennet wants a broader safety net for workers in Democrats' $3.5 trillion spending package.
The Unemployment Insurance Improvement Act is calling on each state to meet minimum benefit standards and cover more workers, including part-time help. All states would have to offer at least 26 weeks of benefits, use up-to-date wage records to determine eligibility, and improve benefits administration with technology in multiple languages.
A member of the Senate Finance Committee, Bennet introduced the bill with fellow Democratic Sens. Ron Wyden of Oregon and Sherrod Brown of Ohio.
“What we’ve learned over the last 18 months is that our nation’s unemployment insurance system is inadequate and unreliable for workers when they lose a job,” Bennet said in a statement Tuesday. “Unemployment programs have helped many American workers stay afloat during the COVID-19 pandemic, but too many still struggle to access their benefits in our patchwork of outdated state systems. This proposal is an essential first step toward modernizing the system, making critical reforms that would protect workers by strengthening and expanding benefits and ensuring states’ technological infrastructure is readily accessible to all.”
The bill is similar to one the three senators introduced in April.
A summary of the bill is available by clicking here.
