Jobless Benefits Extension Bill Clears House

The House passed legislation Friday extending benefits for the long-term unemployed that includes a hotly debated provision to delay benefits for disabled immigrants.

The measure, which passed 302 to 95, now goes to the Senate, where approval is expected early next week. It then would go to the White House for President Clinton’s signature.

The bill provides 13 more weeks of jobless benefits retroactive to Oct. 2 for workers in California who have exhausted the basic 26 weeks of unemployment compensation. Four other states that, like California, have the highest rates of joblessness, also will get 13 additional weeks of compensation. Workers in most states will get seven additional weeks of benefits.

An estimated 1 million idled workers would be eligible for the payments at a cost of $1.1 billion. The extension is the fifth since November, 1991.

The money for the extra unemployment benefits would be generated partly by delaying previously budgeted payments to blind and disabled immigrants who qualify for aid under the Supplemental Security Income program. Instead of qualifying after two years of U.S. residency they now will have to wait five years to obtain the aid.

This switching of funds from disability payments would provide about one-fourth of the money needed to pay for the additional jobless benefits. The rest of the money would come from requirements that states aggressively seek those who have permanently lost their jobs and counsel them on how to find employment. Supporters said that this would save money because it would get people off jobless rolls.

Members of the Hispanic Caucus, who on Thursday opposed the changes in immigrant aid to pay for the jobless benefits, joined the rest of the House in approving the legislation Friday. They are hoping that the Senate will find a way to fund jobless benefits while preserving full funding for disability payments.

Rep. Jose Serrano (D-N.Y), chairman of the Hispanic Caucus, protested the final outcome, however, saying: “The idea of pitting the unemployed against poor, disabled, blind and elderly legal immigrants is simply disgraceful. Although this is a setback . . . we also remain optimistic, having received assurances that a better solution will be found for funding the extension of unemployment benefits.”

The bill initially was approved by the House Ways and Means Committee with the delay in immigrant funding included. The bill’s sponsors called the funding plan a last resort, since raising taxes is considered a political impossibility.

But members of the Hispanic Caucus objected so strenuously that the House leadership agreed to restore full funding for immigrant disability benefits and to scale back the jobless benefits accordingly.

That decision unleashed a heated debate in the House that revealed the depth of feeling on immigration issues: Those opposing the provision claimed discrimination and those favoring it argued that benefits to unemployed Americans are more important than aid to immigrants.

So rancorous were the arguments on both sides that the House leadership was unable to gather enough support Thursday to move the bill to the House floor for final consideration. The effort was blocked on a 274-149 procedural vote.

The vote stunned House leaders, who believed that they had enough votes for passage.

In part, the defeat was attributed to remarks by freshman Rep. Xavier Becerra (D-Los Angeles), which apparently angered Ways and Means Chairman Dan Rostenkowski (D-Ill.). In a closed-door meeting, Becerra reportedly charged that the immigrant provision approved by Rostenkowski’s panel was “inhumane,” one Democrat said.

As a result, Rostenkowski later spoke strongly against the Democratic leadership’s move to drop the provision from the bill.

“We got caught in the grip of an anti-immigrant, anti-Establishment, general frustration mood,” acknowledged Rep. Bill Richardson (D-N.M.), a chief deputy whip.