Jobless-Aid Bill Clears House, Snags in Senate : Legislation: The measure passes on 396-30 vote. Several lawmakers say their states would be shortchanged under the allocation formula.

With new claims for jobless benefits hitting a six-month high, the House gave overwhelming approval Thursday to a compromise bill that would extend payments to 3 million jobless workers whose regular benefits have expired. President Bush has promised to sign the measure.

But while the bill moved easily through the House on a 396-30 vote, it hit what could be a serious snag in the Senate, where several lawmakers protested that their states would be shortchanged under the allocation formula.

With unanimous consent required to bring the bill to a vote, senators from Arkansas, Ohio, Delaware, Louisiana and North Dakota blocked consideration, insisting on a formula that would be more generous to their states.

In those states and 13 others, workers whose benefits have been exhausted since March 1 would not be eligible for the additional retroactive payments that workers in most states would receive under the legislation.

As raucous debate continued on the issue Thursday night, the rebellious lawmakers ignored pleas from Senate Majority Leader George J. Mitchell (D-Me.) and Senate Minority Leader Bob Dole (R-Kan.) to permit final action on the bill. Dole warned that if changes are made--requiring review by the House, which does not meet again until Monday--initial checks could not be mailed until after Thanksgiving.

Approval of the compromise would end a four-month stalemate between Capitol Hill and the White House over giving additional aid to those whose jobless payments have expired.

While partisan warfare was muted in the House debate, several Democrats assailed the President for killing two previous efforts to extend the benefits while Republicans accused Democratic leaders of playing politics with the issue.

Congress acted as the Labor Department reported that new claims for unemployment insurance--a barometer of recent layoffs--rose to a six-month peak of 454,000 in the week ending Nov. 2.

The department said that about 3.3 million of the nation’s 8.6 million jobless workers were receiving benefits last week. About 300,000 persons a month are now exhausting their payments.

The House bill passed with support from 260 Democrats, 135 Republicans and one independent, while only four Democrats and 26 GOP lawmakers opposed it.

All California Democrats in the House voted for the bill. All but four California Republicans also voted for it. Voting against it were Rep. William E. Dannemeyer (R-Fullerton), Rep. John T. Doolittle (R-Rockland) and Rep. Elton Gallegly (R-Simi Valley). Rep. Tom Campbell (R-Palo Alto) did not vote.

Under the compromise, workers who exhaust their regular 26 weeks of benefits without finding work would be eligible for six, 13 or 20 extra weeks of compensation, depending on the unemployment level in their state. Eligible Californians, including those who ran out of benefits since last March, would be entitled to 13 additional weeks of benefits.

At the President’s insistence, the bill would be paid for by a speed-up in estimated tax payments by high-income Americans, improved debt collection on delinquent student loans and a one-year extension of the 0.8% tax that employers now pay for jobless insurance.