‘Not perfect but pretty good’

The unemployment insurance expansion is generous, and will be a salve for laid-off workers, Jordan Weissmann writes in Slate. In most states, unemployment insurance covers laid-off workers for a maximum of 26 weeks, but the Senate plan will extend the eligibility period by 13 weeks. The bill will also add $600 to every unemployment check for up to four months. (As of January, the average unemployment check was $385 per week, which is not enough to keep a family above the poverty line.) “For a lot of restaurant and retail workers who’ve been furloughed or laid off as a result of the crisis, it’s a pretty excellent deal,” Mr. Weissmann says.

The unemployment benefits will also help vulnerable workers who would not ordinarily qualify, as Eric Levitz writes in New York magazine. Freelancers, furloughed employees and independent contractors, such as Uber drivers, will be eligible to receive a weekly payment equal to one-half of the state average unemployment weekly benefit plus $600 for up to four months. In his view, these expansions are the bill’s “crown jewel.”

The $1,200 cash payment is far superior to the proposal it replaced, according to Claudia Sahm, the macroeconomic policy director at the Washington Center for Equitable Growth. The Trump administration favored a payroll tax cut, which wouldn’t have helped people who have lost jobs.