Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) said Wednesday the House would only consider reviving emergency jobless benefits if the proposal is paid for and attached to reforms designed to reduce unemployment.
“Listen, we’re all concerned about those who have had a difficult time trying to find a job,” he told reporters, saying the House has passed various bills aimed at improving the economy. “I’ve made clear that we would consider extending emergency unemployment benefits if it was paid for and if there were provisions that we could agree to that would get our economy moving again and put the American people back to work.”
The Senate voted 60-37 on Tuesday to move forward with a three-month extension of emergency insurance for Americans who are unemployed for up to 99 weeks. The program, first passed in 2008, expired on Dec. 28 for some 1.3 million workers. With it, jobless benefits tend to lapse after 26 weeks.
