WASHINGTON, DC— U.S. Bob Casey (D-PA) today joined Senator Debbie Stabenow (D-MI) and other senators to introduce the Americans Want to Work Act (S. 3706). This legislation will provide emergency assistance for struggling families looking for work by creating an additional tier of benefits for those who have exhausted their unemployment insurance benefits and cut taxes for businesses that hire new workers who have been looking for work the longest.
“Because of the global recession, we have too few jobs and too many people out of work for so long that they have exhausted their unemployment insurance,” said Senator Casey. “This bill tackles both of these problems by expanding tax cuts for businesses that create jobs and providing additional assistance for the 45,000 Pennsylvanians who have already lost benefits this year.”
It is estimated that 158,000 Pennsylvanians will have exhausted their unemployment benefits by the end of the year.
The Americans Want to Work Act will provide 20 additional weeks of unemployment insurance for individuals in states with an unemployment rate of 7.5% or higher. This tier will benefit people who have exhausted all of their benefits. In order to receive this tier, individuals would still need to meet regular unemployment insurance law requirements.
The Americans Want to Work Act also extends through 2011 the successful HIRE Act tax credit, signed into law earlier this year, to encourage businesses to hire workers. The HIRE Act cuts payroll taxes for businesses that hire workers who have been out of work for longer than 60 days and also gives them a $1,000 general business tax credit for each worker employed for at least a year. The bill also doubles the tax credit to $2,000 if businesses hire workers who have totally exhausted their unemployment benefits. Recent reports from the Department of Treasury show that from February to June of this year, businesses hired approximately 5.6 million new workers who had been out of work for eight weeks or more.
The legislation is also cosponsored by Charles Schumer (D-NY), Dick Durbin (D-IL), Carl Levin (D-MI), Chris Dodd (D-CT), Sherrod Brown (D-OH), Jack Reed (D-RI) and Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI).
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