Casey, Wolf pitch renewal of $600 UE payment
Bob Casey and Tom Wolf, the highest-ranking elected officials in Pennsylvania, teamed up Tuesday afternoon to urge Congress to extend the $600 federal weekly payments for unemployed Americans.
“We need Congress to act now and continue the $600 benefit. Pennsylvanians need help, and need it now,” said Casey, a Democratic U.S. senator, who co-hosted a virtual news conference with the governor.
Their entire focus was largely on payments through the Federal Pandemic Unemployment Compensation program, created through the federal CARES Act. That program lapsed July 25.
Congress is debating the issue, with the Senate and House each making a proposal that the two chambers cannot agree upon. The Republican-controlled Senate had proposed cutting that weekly benefit to $200, until states can implement a 70% wage replacement plan. Democrats, who control the House, want to maintain the $600 weekly benefit, possibly with the duration tied to the unemployment rate.
“COVID-19 has brought incredible hardships to thousands of Pennsylvania families,” said Wolf, the Democratic governor. “Families have been able to pay bills and put food on the table because of this $600 payment. Now it’s shut off.
“The reason the economy didn’t drop the way people thought it would is because of this program.”
Casey called on Mitch McConnell, the Senate majority leader, and Casey’s GOP colleagues to help resolve this apparent stalemate. “This rests totally on Mitch McConnell and Congress,” Casey said. “We need people to call Mitch McConnell, call Senate Republicans to extend this. They need to put pressure on the (Senate) majority.”
Michele Evermore, a senior policy analyst for the National Employment Law Project – and a Pennsylvanian – said discontinuation of the FPUC benefits means “people have to make tough choices like pay the rent or pay for medicine. They should not have to make a choice.”
Liz Stanton, an employee at Carnegie Mellon University, was a guest speaker who discussed her plight. She had been a cook at the university, but had to change jobs following a pre-COVID illness. After temporarily losing her job due to the pandemic, she said the FPUC benefit enabled her and her family “to get by.” But now that she no longer has that financial source, she is returning to a position that puts her at risk. “I go to work even if I have to risk my health,” she said.
“I’m not saying, but demanding that Congress and President (Donald Trump) do the right thing. The pandemic unemployment benefit must be extended.”