Senate advancing gingerly on jobless benefits
WASHINGTON — The Senate moved gingerly today trying to revive a stalled bill that would extend federal benefits to the long-term unemployed.
Senate majority leader Harry Reid of Nevada postponed a test vote until Tuesday afternoon in order to give senators more time to consider a new proposal to restore payments that expired late in December for more than a million job seekers.
The proposed amendment by Republican Sens. Dean Heller of Nevada and Susan Collins of Maine would extend payments for three months, and would offset the cost by budget changes elsewhere that were not immediately revealed. The cost of a three-month extension has been estimated at $6.5 billion.
In a joint statement late today, Heller, Collins and six other Republican senators said the plan also would repeal the controversial cut in cost-of-living increases for military retirees that was passed in a budget agreement last month.
“We continue to negotiate in good faith, and we are all encouraged that we are making progress on a package that could pass with bipartisan support,” the senators said.
In remarks to the Senate, Reid said both he and President Barack Obama do not favor a three-month extension of unemployment benefits, preferring legislation that would continue payments for 11 months or more.
But, Reid said, “That doesn’t mean we can’t work something out.”
The tentative step forward came at the end of a day where senators negotiated privately in a bid to get the unemployment bill back on track following a major clash Thursday.
In a dramatic confrontation, Reid introduced a Democratic unemployment proposal, telling Republicans he would refuse to allow debate on GOP amendments.
Cooler heads prevailed the next day, with Reid saying through a spokesman he would allow “a reasonable number of relevant amendments from Republicans.”
Reid today said he would not allow amendments on Obamacare.
“Republicans are so obsessed with taking potshots at the Affordable Care Act and staging political stunt votes that they’re willing to derail a bill that will help 1.4 million out-of-work Americans,” Reid said. “I cannot allow that.”
In their statement, the Republican senators said their proposal “would allow for a reasonable number of related amendments to be offered by both sides, which would be a productive breakthrough.”
“Republicans have a lot of good ideas on how to pay for this extension,” said Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky. “We also have a lot of proposals for getting at the root of the problem – proposals that would make it easier for folks who are struggling in this economy to actually find stable and fulfilling work, or to get retrained so they can find good jobs.
“Unfortunately,” McConnell said in a swipe at Reid, “up until the weekend, the Majority Leader wasn’t terribly interested in any of these ideas.”
Contact Stephens Washington Bureau Chief Steve Tetreault at stetreault@stephensmedia.com or 202-783-1760. Follow @STetreaultDC on Twitter
