New Jobless-Aid Bill on Fast Track in Congress

Senate-House negotiators reached agreement Monday on a bill to allow a more generous extension of jobless benefits than is provided in the measure President Bush signed just 10 days ago.

The bill--which would supersede the previous law--was expected to move easily through the Senate and House today and be sent to the President, who has promised to sign it.

Under its provisions, workers in the nine states hit hardest by the recession would get 20 additional weeks of jobless pay if they exhaust their regular benefits, and the long-term unemployed in all other states would receive 13 more weeks of payments.

In addition, workers in all 50 states would be eligible for retroactive benefits of 13 or 20 extra weeks if they have exhausted their payments since last March and are still out of work.

Under the previous legislation, workers in 23 states would have received only six weeks of extra benefits, and 200,000 people out of work in 18 states would not have been eligible for retroactive compensation.

Many senators, however, complained that their states were short-changed under the original formula and persuaded Senate leaders to push through a second bill to deal with the inequity.

As a result, however, the emergency program would be shortened by three weeks--ending June 13--to help cover the additional costs.

In the late-session rush, the House added several other provisions to the bill that were accepted by the Senate, including most-favored-nation trading status for the Baltic states of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania.

It also gives the president authority to grant permanent MFN status for Czechoslovakia and Hungary and repeals a ban on importing gold coins from the Soviet Union.