Press Releases
Pingree Joins Over 100 Members of Congress Urging Trump Administration to Extend Unemployment BenefitsMore than 87,000 Unemployed Mainers Could Lose Benefits on July 25 Without Action by Senate Republicans, President
Washington,
July 9, 2020
Today, Congresswoman Chellie Pingree (D-Maine) sent a letter to President Trump urging his administration to extend federal unemployment insurance benefits, which are set to run out at the end of July without action by the White House and U.S. Senate. According to the Maine Department of Labor, around 9 percent of Mainers are unemployed. The CARES Act extended unemployment insurance by providing an additional $600 weekly federal unemployment benefit for those who lost their job due to the coronavirus pandemic. While the House acted to subsequently pass The Heroes Act, which extended unemployment insurance through January 31, 2021, the U.S. Senate has failed to act. The letter, signed by 110 Members of Congress, says in part: “It is essential that we extend federal pandemic unemployment compensation before it ends at the end of July. 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 in the weeks ahead,” the lawmakers wrote. The full text of the letter can be found here. ### |
