Emily Martin, Vice President and General Counsel

by Emily J. Martin, Vice President, 
National Women's Law Center

The Senate is now in recess until April 12, and word is that Senate leadership will not recall Senators back to pass extended unemployment insurance and COBRA subsidies before those benefits lapse on April 5. Last week, an attempt to extend these benefits was blocked by Senator Tom Coburn of Oklahoma. As a result, more than 200,000 unemployed workers will lose their unemployment benefits at the beginning of April.

The most frustrating part of this dynamic is that everyone expects Congress to ultimately approve these extensions. In fact, both the House and the Senate have already voted to extend unemployment benefits and COBRA subsidies (the House through June and the Senate through December), but because these two bills differ in their details, a final version must be worked out after recess. Despite Congress’s votes to extend unemployment insurance and COBRA subsidies, because of Senator Coburn hundreds of thousands of workers will have to figure out how to make ends meet as they lose benefits next week. Moreover, state unemployment agencies will have to take up the burdensome and expensive task of closing thousands of cases and then reopening them a week or two later if Congress retroactively extends assistance.