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LABOR & EMPLOYMENT LAW — 04/16/10

President signs law providing short-term extension of unemployment benefits, COBRA subsidy

Late April 15, 2010, President Obama signed into law an $18-billion extension of eligibility for unemployment insurance and COBRA benefits. Just hours earlier, the Senate voted 59-38 to pass an amendment (S.A. 3721) in the nature of a substitute offered by Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus (D-Mont) to the Continuing Extension Act of 2010 (H.R. 4851) that would extend unemployment benefits through June 2, 2010 (retroactive to April 5) and extend the COBRA premium subsidy through May 31, 2010, and provide transition relief for individuals who lost their jobs between March 31 and the date of the bill’s enactment. The original bill, as passed by the House on March 17, provided extensions of eligibility for unemployment insurance and COBRA benefits through May 5 and April 30, respectively. Shortly after the Senate’s vote, the House approved the bill in a 289-112 vote. The Baucus amendment served to designate the measure as emergency funding, allowing lawmakers to sidestep pay-as-you-go rules that would have required offsets to pay for the extended benefits.

This extension will give Congress time to finalize legislation extending unemployment insurance and COBRA benefits for the rest of the year. The Senate on March 10 passed tax extender legislation (H.R. 4213) that would extend through the end of the year approximately $30 billion worth of expired tax provisions, including emergency unemployment compensation and eligibility for the COBRA premium subsidy. The House passed the bill in December 2009. The House and Senate need to reconcile their two bills before it can be sent to President Obama to be signed into law.

For more information on this and other topics, consult CCH Employment Practices Guide or CCH Labor Relations.

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