About | HeinOnline Law Journal Library | HeinOnline Law Journal Library | HeinOnline

LOG IN
LOG IN


1 1 (March 17, 2021)

handle is hein.crs/govecrm0001 and id is 1 raw text is: Updated March 17, 2021 Unemployment Insurance Provisions in the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 The UnemploymentInsurance (UI) provisions in Title IX, Subtitle A, of the American Rescue Plan Actof2021 (ARPA; P.L. 117-2; enacted March 11, 2021) make four significant changes to UIprograms andbenefits- specifically, ARPA * reauthorizes and expands the enhanced UT benefits created under the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (CARES Act; P.L. 116-136, enacted March 27, 2020) and the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021 (P.L. 116-260, enacted December 27, 2020; the U provisions are titled the Continued Assistance for Unemployed Workers Act of 2020 [Continued Assistance Act]); * extends the authorization for additional, temporary UT provisions first authorized undertheCARES Act and the Families First Coronavirus Response Act (FFCRA; P.L. 116-127, enactedMarch 18, 2020) and extended under the Continued Assistance Act; * authorizes a federalincome taxexclusion of up to $10,200 in UT benefits in 2020 for taxpayers with modified adjustedgross income (AGI) of less than $150,000; and * providestwo sources of additionalU administrative funding: (1) $2 billion to U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) for federal and state administration ofUI benefits, including for fraud prevention andbenefit processing purposes; and (2) $8 million to DOL for federal activities related to UTprograms. For additionalinformation on UT programs and benefits, see CRS Report R46687, CurrentStatus of Unemployment Insurance (UI) Benefits: Permanent-Law Programs and COVID-19 Pandemic Response. For information on federaltaxation ofUIbenefits, see CRS In Focus IF11782, Federal Taxation of Unemployment Insurance Benefits. Reauthorized and Expanded Federal Ul Benefits The UT provisions in ARPA reauthorize and expand the four temporary UT benefits created under the CARES Act and the Continued Assistance Act: Federal Pandemic Unemployment Compensation (FPUC), Pandemic Emergency Unemployment Compensation (PEUC), Pandemic Unemployment Assistance (PUA), and Mixed Earned Unemployment Compensation (MEUC). https://crsrepc Federal Pandemic Unemployment Compensation Originally authorized under the CARES Act at $600 per week, FPUC is a weekly UT benefit augmentation that initially expired on July 25, 2020 (July 26, 2020, in New York; for subsequent Ulbenefit expiration dates provided below, the benefit expiration date in New York falls one calendar day later, which is dueto that state's definitions of week). After this expiration, on August 8, 2020, former President Trump is sued a presidential memorandum creating Lost Wages Assistance, a grant programthat supplemented the weekly benefits of certain eligible UT claimants with up to $300 weekly in federal funding. All states ended Lost Wages Assistance payments by September5, 2020. The Continued Assistance Act reauthorized FPUC at $300 per week for weeks of unemployment beginning after December 26, 2020, and ending on orbeforeMarch 14, 2021. ARPA extends the Continued Assistance Act's reauthorization of FPUC at $300 per week through weeks of unemployment ending onor before September6, 2021. After September 4, 2021, no FPUC benefits are payable. Pandemic Emergency Unemployment Compensation PEUC provides additional weeks of federally financedUI benefits forindividuals who exhaust state andfederalUI benefits and are able, available, and actively seeking work, subject toflexibilities related to Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19). PEUC was originally created as a 13-weekUI extension underthe CARES Act andpayable through weeks of unemployment ending December 26, 2020. The Continued AssistanceAct subsequently authorized 11 additional weeks of PEUC benefits (for a total of 24 weeks; the additionalweeks were only payable beginning December 26, 2020) and extended the authorization for PEUC through weeks of unemployment ending on orbefore March 14, 2021. The American Rescue Plan Act * authorizes 29 additional weeks ofPEUCbenefits (not retroactive; onlypayable with respectto weeks of unemployment beginning March 14,2021); and * extends the authorization for PEUC through weeks of unemploymentendingon orbefore September6,2021; no PEUC benefits are payable after September 4, 2021. The new PEUC expiration date effectively limits PEUC benefits to no more than an additional 25 weeks and a cumulative total of 49 weeks. .conqgress.gov