May 22 , 2008
Reuters

U.S. Senate passes expanded jobless benefits

WASHINGTON, May 22 (Reuters) - The U.S. Senate on Thursday passed a Democratic initiative to expand jobless benefits to the long-term unemployed and attached it to an emergency Iraq war-funding bill.

The Senate voted 75-22 to approve the additional unemployment benefits in a package that also would pay more college tuition costs for war veterans and provide other domestic spending.

The measure would expand unemployment benefits for up to 13 weeks nationally, with an additional 13 weeks in states with high unemployment. The House of Representatives last week also approved the initiative that comes as the U.S. economy is either in recession or flirting with it.

The benefit increase is estimated to cost $11 billion over 10 years.

President George W. Bush opposes the legislation, which would add tens of billions of dollars in spending that he did not request. The expansion of college tuition payments for veterans is estimated to cost around $52 billion over 10 years.

The Bush administration, in warning of a veto, has argued that the U.S. unemployment rate is low by historical and economic standards. It also said that expanding unemployment benefits now would discourage some from seeking work.

Maurice Emsellem, policy co-director at the National Employment Law Project, noted that jobless benefits in many states average $290 or less a week. Given families' rising households costs, Emsellem called it "preposterous" the expanded benefits would be a disincentive for job-seekers.

The organization, which works on behalf of lower-wage workers, says more than 4 million unemployed people will run out of state jobless benefits if an extension is not enacted.

The legislation would also give Bush $165 billion in additional funds for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. (Reporting by Richard Cowan; Editing by Andrea Ricci)