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WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, Congressman Jimmy Gomez (CA-34) joined Congressmen Dan Kildee (MI-05), Danny K. Davis (IL-07), and 74 other Members of Congress to send a letter to President Donald J. Trump urging his administration to extend federal unemployment insurance benefits, which are set to expire at the end of December without action by the White House and U.S. Senate.

Federal Pandemic Unemployment Compensation, a $600 per week supplemental benefit that proved to be a lifeline for millions of Americans during the COVID-19 pandemic, expired at the end of July. Without an extension, additional direct benefits to workers and support for employers will expire at the end of the year, including:

• Up to 13 weeks of additional benefits for those who have exhausted state unemployment;
• Up to 39 weeks of benefits for workers who are not eligible for state unemployment insurance, including self-employed and gig workers; and
• Interest-free loans to states to keep their unemployment trust fund solvent and delay unemployment tax increases to employers.

In May – and again in October – the House of Representatives passed a second relief bill, the Heroes Act, which extended these critical unemployment provisions. Senate Republicans have refused to vote on this measure.

“It is essential that we provide vital unemployment benefits to workers across the country, especially before the unemployment provisions in the Families First Coronavirus Response Act (FFCRA) and the CARES Act expire at the end of December,” the lawmakers wrote. “Cutting off enhanced unemployment benefits while the economy is still in crisis would ignore the millions of Americans who are still suffering. We hope that you will support this measure as soon as possible.”

The letter has been endorsed by the American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations (AFL-CIO), Center for Disability Rights, Inc. (CDR), International Union, United Automobile, Aerospace & Agricultural Implement Workers of America (UAW), National Education Association (NEA), National Leased Housing Association (NLHA), and Young Invincibles.

The following Members of Congress signed onto the letter: Reps. Alma S. Adams, Ph.D. (NC-12), Nanette Diaz Barragán (CA-44), Joyce Beatty (OH-03), Don Beyer (VA-08), Sanford D. Bishop, Jr. (GA-02), Earl Blumenauer (OR-03), Lisa Blunt Rochester (DE-AL), Suzanne Bonamici (OR-01), Brendan F. Boyle (PA-02), Anthony Brown (MD-04), Julia Brownley (CA-26), Salud Carbajal (CA-24), André Carson (IN-05), Matthew Cartwright (PA-08), Ed Case (HI-01), Kathy Castor (FL-14), Judy Chu (CA-27), David N. Cicilline (RI-01), Wm. Lacy Clay (MO-01), Emanuel Cleaver, II (MO-05), Steve Cohen (TN-09), Jim Cooper (TN-05), Mark DeSaulnier (CA-11), Debbie Dingell (MI-12), Anna G. Eshoo (CA-18), Dwight Evans (PA-03), Bill Foster (IL-11), Marcia L. Fudge (OH-11), Al Green (TX-09), Raul M. Grijalva (AZ-03), Jahana Hayes (CT-05), Pramila Jayapal (WA-07), Henry C. “Hank” Johnson, Jr. (GA-04), Ro Khanna (CA-17), Derek Kilmer (WA-06), Ann Kirkpatrick (AZ-02), James R. Langevin (RI-02), John B. Larson (CT-01), Brenda L. Lawrence (MI-14), Barbara Lee (CA-13), Susie Lee (NV-03), Andy Levin (MI-09), Mike Levin (CA-49), Alan Lowenthal (CA-47), Doris Matsui (CA-06), Betty McCollum (MN-04), Gregory W. Meeks (NY-5), Grace Meng (NY-06), Gwen S. Moore (WI-04), Jerrold Nadler (NY-10), Donald Norcross (NJ-01), Eleanor Holmes Norton (DC-AL), Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (NY-14), Frank Pallone, Jr. (NJ-06), Jimmy Panetta (CA-20), Bill Pascrell, Jr. (NJ-09), Stacey E. Plaskett (VI-AL), Mark Pocan (WI-02), Jamie Raskin (MD-08), Tim Ryan (OH-13), Gregorio Kilili Camacho Sablan (MP-AL), Linda T. Sánchez (CA-38), John P. Sarbanes (MD-03), Jan Schakowsky (IL-09), José E. Serrano (NY-15), Terri A. Sewell (AL-07), Mikie Sherrill (NJ-11), Albio Sires (NJ-08), Elissa Slotkin (MI-08), Darren Soto (FL-09), Rashida Tlaib (MI-13), Nydia M. Velázquez (NY-07), Peter Welch (VT-AL), and Susan Wild (PA-07).

The full text of the letter can be found below. Click here for a PDF copy.

Dear Mr. President,

We write to express our strong support for extending the unemployment supports established through the Families First Coronavirus Response Act (FFCRA) and the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act. These benefits are critical to continuing to support hardworking American families and businesses impacted by the coronavirus.

Throughout the pandemic so far, over 288,000 Americans have lost their lives and over 10 million Americans remain unemployed. According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, the country’s unemployment rate stands at 6.7 percent— far above 3.6 percent in January 2020, before the coronavirus spread within the United States. Furthermore, long-term unemployment continues to increase: over one third of those unemployed in November were jobless for at least six months.

The coronavirus pandemic—and the subsequent health and economic crisis it created—is far from over. We are in the midst of a third wave of coronavirus cases, with the majority of states experiencing unchecked community spread. In November, Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell said that the recent rise in COVID-19 cases poses a great risk to our economic recovery.

Unfortunately, the Federal Pandemic Unemployment Compensation (FPUC) expired at the end of July. FPUC was a $600 per week supplemental federal unemployment benefit that served as a lifeline to millions of Americans during the pandemic. However, the House of Representatives passed two relief bills—The Heroes Act in May and an updated version of The Heroes Act in October—to extend critical unemployment provisions. Now, we are staring down another unemployment benefit cliff. Many federal unemployment supports will expire at the end of the year, absent further action.

Without expeditious action, the following direct benefits to workers and supports for employers will expire at the end of the year:

• Up to 13 weeks of Pandemic Emergency Unemployment Compensation (PEUC), which provides additional benefits for those who have exhausted state unemployment;
• Up to 39 weeks of Pandemic Unemployment Assistance (PUA), which provides workers who are not eligible for state unemployment insurance, including self-employed and gig workers, unemployment benefits;
• Full federal funding for up to 20 weeks Extended Benefits (EB), which states trigger onto at high unemployment rates;
• Interest-free loans to states to keep their unemployment trust fund solvent and delay unemployment tax increases to employers;
• Full federal funding for Short-Time Compensation or Workshare programs, which allow employers to temporarily reduce their employees’ hours without having to let them go;
• Full federal funding for the cost of waiving the “waiting week” for unemployment benefits; and
• 50 percent federal funding for the cost of unemployment insurance paid to employees of nonprofits and local governmental entities that enter into reimbursable arrangements with state unemployment programs, instead of paying per-worker unemployment taxes.

The impending unemployment benefit cliff will negatively impact American workers, businesses and the economy at large. The Century Foundation estimates that more than half of the workers who are currently relying on unemployment insurance to survive will be cut off at the end of December.

This means that millions of Americans will no longer be able to afford paying rent, putting food on the table and covering health care expenses. Because workers receiving unemployment insurance inject that money straight into their local economy, the businesses that rely on these customers will also suffer losses if these benefits expire. This will have a ripple effect throughout the economy at large, slowing consumer spending.

Additionally, without federal support for unemployment insurance or interest-free loans to cover state unemployment trust funds, employers in many states will face increased unemployment taxes. According to the Tax Foundation, 27 states have a tax that automatically triggers when the unemployment trust fund falls below a certain level.

Therefore, it is essential that we provide vital unemployment benefits to workers across the country, especially before the unemployment provisions in the FFCRA and the CARES Act expire at the end of December. Cutting off enhanced unemployment benefits while the economy is still in crisis would ignore the millions of Americans who are still suffering. We hope that you will support this measure as soon as possible.