|
|
|
|
Unemployment Insurance Extended in Emergency War Funding Bills
The Senate passed an emergency war funding bill by a
veto-proof margin on Thursday, including an amendment that would temporarily
extend unemployment insurance (UI) for unemployed workers. The new provision
would extend unemployment benefits by 13 weeks for all workers nationwide and by
an additional 13 weeks for workers in States with high unemployment rates. The
House similarly extended UI coverage in its version of the war funding bill on
May 15th, but will need to vote again when Congress returns from its
Memorial Day recess because of other differences between its package and the
Senate's.
|
Family Leave Developments
Family leave policy
has been a hot topic this month as new bills attempted to expand it to more
workers and the House voted to close a harmful loophole.
Rep. Baldwin's bill would provide FMLA
benefits to part-time employees
Rep. Tammy Baldwin's
(D-WI) new bill, the Family Fairness Act (H.R. 6029), would extend benefits
provided under the Family Medical Leave Act of 1993 to part-time as well as
full-time workers. The bill would eliminate the provision that workers must
have worked at least 1,250 hours in the preceding year to qualify for FMLA
leave (however, workers would still be required to have worked for their
employer for at least one year). This bill is particularly important for women,
who comprise over two-thirds of part-time workers and who have the majority of
family care responsibilities.
House passes technical
correction to grant flight attendants FMLA coverage
By an almost unanimous vote of 402-9, the House has passed
the Airline Flight Crew Technical Corrections Act, H.R. 2744, which would close
a loophole that has for years excluded flight attendants from FMLA coverage.
Because of the unique way their work hours are calculated, full-time flight
attendants have had extreme difficulty meeting the minimum hourly requirements
of FMLA; H.R. 2744 corrects for this exclusion. After its bipartisan passage on
May 20, the Act has been referred to the Senate.
Rep. Maloney introduces the Federal Employees
Paid Parental Leave Act
Rep. Carolyn Maloney
(D-NY) has introduced a bill, H.R. 5781, that would mandate that eight of the
twelve weeks of parental leave currently given to Federal employees be paid
leave. Though the legislation, if passed, would only apply to employees of the
federal government, it would serve as an important test case, paving the way
for paid leave for non-government workers. After a subcommittee ordered a
cost-analysis and issued a recommendation to pass the bill, H.R. 5781 has been
placed on the schedule of the House Oversight and Government Reform
Committee, which deals with federal
employment issues.
|
Senator Casey Introduces Child Care Bill
Senator Robert Casey (D-PA) has introduced a bill that would
focus on child care quality through improvements to the Child Care Development
Block Grant (CCDBG), the largest source of child care assistance funding for
low-income families. The Starting Early, Starting Right Act, S. 2980, would
increase mandatory funding for the CCDBG by $50 billion over five years and
increase the portion of these funds set aside for quality improvement efforts from
four to 15 percent. In addition, provisions of the Act specifically focus on
improving the quality of care received by children from low-income families. As
advocates know, low-income mothers who work or are in school have a
particularly difficult time finding good and affordable care for their
children.
|
Bill that Would Expand Child Tax Credit Passes House
The Energy and Tax Extenders Act, H.R. 6049, a patchwork of
tax code changes intended to support alternative energy and business
investment, also includes a provision that would expand the refundable Child
Tax Credit to cover approximately 2.9 million additional poor children. Currently,
families that make under $12,050 are ineligible for the Child Tax Credit, and
millions of others receive only small refunds because
the value of the Credit is based on the amount of earnings above $12,050. H.R.
6049 would lower the threshold for family eligibility to $8,500 and increase
the Credit for families earning above that threshold. According to estimates,
these measures have the potential to benefit 13 million children, many in
low-income families headed by women.
The bill, introduced by Ways and Means Committee Chairman
Charles Rangel (D-NY), was passed by the House on Thursday. However, it faces
opposition in the Senate and from the Bush Administration because it would be
paid for by an increase in taxes on certain businesses.
|
Congress and the Insider will be back after Memorial Day break.
Members of Congress returned to their home districts for a
week-long Memorial Day recess on Friday. Look for your next edition of the
Economic Equity Insider on June 9th, after Congress returns to Washington, D.C.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
