The bill will:

1)      Extend unemployment benefits until December 31, 2010, which would offer many workers up to a total of 99 weeks of unemployment insurance.

2)      Extend the COBRA subsidy to those workers involuntarily terminated from March 1 through March 31, 2010.

3)      Send aid to states with poor or no tax revenue in an attempt to prevent layoffs of public service employees.

4)      Extend a $250 tax deduction for teachers who buy their own classroom supplies.

5)      Offer tax credits for installing energy-efficient windows, doors and skylights that meet the 2010 Energy Star standards.

All of the Democratic and six Republican Senators voted in favor of the bill.  Those opposed to the bill fear it will add to the $12.5 trillion deficit, while supporters contend that unemployment benefits act as a short-term stimulus, since those strapped for cash tend to spend it quickly, thereby boosting demand in the economy.

For more information, see

“Senate passes jobless aid, business tax breaks,” (http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/35776449/ns/business-economy_at_a_crossroads/)

“Senate Approves $138 Billion Bill Extending Unemployment Aid,” (http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=aj54ARnTfC4k&pos=8)

 Roughly 400,000 Americans were scheduled to lose their unemployment benefits as of the end of February.  The national unemployment rate dropped a little in January, to 9.7% from 10% in December.  February’s unemployment numbers are due out on Friday.

The legislation, the Temporary Extension Act of 2010 (H. R. 4691), also extends the deadline for qualifying for subsidies for COBRA continuation coverage, allowing workers who are involuntarily terminated in March to qualify for the program.  Workers would have lost the opportunity to qualify for the subsidy under The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA), as amended by the Department of Defense Appropriations Act of 2010, as of February 28, 2010.  Now, workers who are involuntary terminated between September 1, 2008 and March 31, 2010 are eligible for up to 15 months of COBRA subsidies.

Click here for the text of the bill.

Employees who are misclassification as independent contractors are deprived of the benefits and protections they are legally entitled to, such as overtime and unemployment benefits.  The government also does not get the money they are entitled to, specifically in the Social Security, Medicare and Unemployment Insurance Trust Funds, as well as any other taxable benefits an employee may otherwise receive.  To reinforce the Department of Labor’s commitment to solving this problem, the 2011 budget also includes an additional $25MM for a Misclassification Initiative.  It includes the addition of 100 additional enforcement personnel and competitive grants to boost state incentives and capacity to address the problem.  

The budget also includes $50MM for a State Paid Leave Fund within the Labor Department, which will provide grants to help states who wish to introduce paid leave legislation pay their start-up costs.

The detailed budget can be found at http://www.dol.gov/dol/budget/.

The EBSA’s COBRA page now has several new model notices available, including:

• an Updated General Notice;
• a Premium Assistance Extension Notice, which details the extension provisions; and
• an updated Alternative Notice, which must be sent to all individuals who become eligible for COBRA under a state law.

The updated notices can be located at www.dol.gov/ebsa/COBRAmodelnotice.html

The extension, which was added to the House Department of Defense Appropriations bill for 2010 and signed by the President on December 21, 2009, expands the maximum COBRA subsidy period from 9 to 15 months, and extends the eligibility date for the subsidy to February 28, 2010. 

Plan administrators are required to send notices of eligibility rights to those individuals who have a qualifying event on or after October 31, 2009.

The proposed bill would:

1)     extend the allowable time an individual could receive the subsidy from nine (9) months to 15 months;

2)     extend the subsidy to individuals who are involuntarily terminated up to June 30, 2010 (under ARRA, eligibility for the subsidy would expire December 1, 2009);

3)     extend the subsidy to individuals who are not only involuntarily terminated but to those whose hours are reduced to a point where they would be ineligible for employer-sponsored health benefits; and

4)     increase the subsidy amount from 65% to 75%.

The bill has been referred to the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committees.

The text of the bill may be found at http://frwebgate.access.gpo.gov/cgi-bin/getdoc.cgi?dbname=111_cong_bills&docid=f:s2730is.txt.pdf.