WEBVTT - Congress Continues to Debate as Enhanced Unemployment Benefits Expire Next Week

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<v Speaker 1>It's Thursday, July. I'm Oscar Rameiras from the Daily Dive

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<v Speaker 1>podcast in Los Angeles, and this is reopening America. Congress

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<v Speaker 1>continues to debate what to do about enhanced jobless benefits

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<v Speaker 1>that are set to expire at the end of next week.

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<v Speaker 1>Some million Americans are set to lose an extra six

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<v Speaker 1>hundred dollars a week that we're given out to help

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<v Speaker 1>keep people afloat during the pandemic shutdowns. Eric Morath, labor

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<v Speaker 1>economics and policy reporter at The Wall Street Journal, joins

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<v Speaker 1>us for more. Thanks for joining us, Eric, thanks for

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<v Speaker 1>having me. I wanted to talk about the jobless benefits

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<v Speaker 1>that a lot of people are getting right now. This

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<v Speaker 1>extra six hundred dollars a week, it's set to expire

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<v Speaker 1>at the end of the month on July. I've been

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<v Speaker 1>seeing for administrative reasons, some states have said that the

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<v Speaker 1>last payments will go out this weekend if the program

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<v Speaker 1>is not extended. I know a lot of people really

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<v Speaker 1>saw this as a lifeline when the pandemic caused a

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<v Speaker 1>lot of states to shut down entire industries, and we're

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<v Speaker 1>seeing that some twenty million Americans are sets lose this

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<v Speaker 1>extra benefit. Eric tell us anything you know about updates

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<v Speaker 1>with this? How is Congress moving along with the plan

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<v Speaker 1>to either extend this or just let it expire. So

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<v Speaker 1>Congress is trying to hash out what appears to be

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<v Speaker 1>some sort of compromised The administration has signaled support for

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<v Speaker 1>some type of extension, perhaps at a lower level, perhaps

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<v Speaker 1>it phases out, which suggests there might be some ground

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<v Speaker 1>to compromise. But the Democrats have already said they'd like

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<v Speaker 1>the full sick hundred dollars to be extended in the

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<v Speaker 1>next year, and other Republicans have called for it to

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<v Speaker 1>be added completely. So kind of remains to be seen

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<v Speaker 1>if there'll be a middle ground. You're exactly right that,

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<v Speaker 1>given how these payments are made on a weekly basis,

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<v Speaker 1>there's concerned in a number of states that effectively this

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<v Speaker 1>money and within a few days rather than a little

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<v Speaker 1>bit more than a week from now. So there's some

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<v Speaker 1>urgency for Congress to maybe act even sooner than the deadline.

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<v Speaker 1>But I've been covering things in Washington long enough. Usually

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<v Speaker 1>we have to read to exactly the deadline before we

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<v Speaker 1>get a compromise exactly. I've been seeing from some Republicans

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<v Speaker 1>that they possibly would be open to extending it if

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<v Speaker 1>it was set at a lower amount between two hundred

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<v Speaker 1>and four hundred dollars. And one of the things they're

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<v Speaker 1>reasoning for that is that a lot of people are

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<v Speaker 1>actually making more money with this added unemployment benefit than

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<v Speaker 1>they would through their normal jobs. And one of the

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<v Speaker 1>lines of thinking is that people don't want to come

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<v Speaker 1>back to work because they're making more money on unemployment. Yeah,

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<v Speaker 1>that's correct. The University of Chicago did his study and

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<v Speaker 1>they found a little more than two thirds of those

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<v Speaker 1>receiving unemployment benefits are receiving more income now than they

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<v Speaker 1>did at their previous jobs. And how we got to

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<v Speaker 1>that point is the six hundred dollars was intended to

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<v Speaker 1>boost the average unemployment payment to the median wage for

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<v Speaker 1>a full time worker in the US. But what we've

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<v Speaker 1>learned since is that the person laid off wasn't the

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<v Speaker 1>median wage earner, much more likely to be a lower

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<v Speaker 1>wage worker, someone that maybe works at our restaurant, a

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<v Speaker 1>hotel somewhere in the tourism industry, and those folks often,

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<v Speaker 1>you know, make less than the twenty three or twenty

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<v Speaker 1>four dollars an hour that the unemployment benefits pay, so

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<v Speaker 1>even lowering it to three or four hundred, there will

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<v Speaker 1>be some workers that will still be paid more. I mean,

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<v Speaker 1>certainly if you're making the minimum wage, which still in

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<v Speaker 1>many states, even two hundred on top of unemployment benefits

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<v Speaker 1>could mean that you're making more money than you did before,

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<v Speaker 1>but certainly smaller share of workers. One, there's a lot

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<v Speaker 1>of stuff on the table. Obviously, what are we hearing

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<v Speaker 1>about another round of stimulus checks? The last time it

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<v Speaker 1>was individual payments to people. Are we hearing any movement

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<v Speaker 1>on that front. Yeah, again, the administration has signaled support

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<v Speaker 1>for that, and that kind of brings up this debate

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<v Speaker 1>around you know, should these payments be targeted. One way

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<v Speaker 1>to target them is two people who lost their jobs.

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<v Speaker 1>Another way to target them is to businesses that say

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<v Speaker 1>they need loans or grants to continue to employee. Or

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<v Speaker 1>you don't target and you say, you know, anyone that

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<v Speaker 1>makes below a certain income level gets another check. Now,

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<v Speaker 1>that puts a lot of stimulus into the economy, so

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<v Speaker 1>that would probably help support the economic growth. It's kind

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<v Speaker 1>of found money, but at the same time, you know,

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<v Speaker 1>it's not necessarily directly helping those that lost their jobs

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<v Speaker 1>or their businesses have suffered due to the pandemic. There

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<v Speaker 1>was a couple of interesting things I saw in one

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<v Speaker 1>of her latest articles talking about all of this. On

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<v Speaker 1>the employer's side, you know, some businesses might need to

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<v Speaker 1>raise wages to attract workers to either get them out

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<v Speaker 1>of the you know, want to get out of unemployment,

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<v Speaker 1>or just even I feel like it's worth their safety,

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<v Speaker 1>you know, if they're scared about getting sick. But that's

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<v Speaker 1>a difficult thing to do, especially right now with how

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<v Speaker 1>slow things are going. So, you know, we talked to

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<v Speaker 1>for that article someone who operates a call center Kentucky,

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<v Speaker 1>and he said, you know, he's offering fifteen dollars an

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<v Speaker 1>hour for those jobs, just kind of actually a little

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<v Speaker 1>involved the industry standard. And he said, you know, he

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<v Speaker 1>can't get worker because many of the people that he

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<v Speaker 1>would hire for this job are making something more than

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<v Speaker 1>twenty dollars now or on unemployment benefits. So you can

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<v Speaker 1>understand how that would be difficult for them. You know,

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<v Speaker 1>some economists, though, said, you know, maybe that means you

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<v Speaker 1>need to raise your wages. Because it's a different ballgame now.

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<v Speaker 1>People may not want to report to an office. People

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<v Speaker 1>may not be able to because they have childcare issues,

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<v Speaker 1>or they or someone they know is sick. The challenges

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<v Speaker 1>and this was the business owner told me. It's like, yeah,

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<v Speaker 1>if I raised everyone's wages, I wouldn't win any contract.

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<v Speaker 1>So that's kind of the argument that you can't operate

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<v Speaker 1>your business profitably if you greatly increased wages. But you know,

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<v Speaker 1>I do think there's probably some middle ground. A lot

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<v Speaker 1>of discussion, and among academia at least, is that people

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<v Speaker 1>who are considered essential workers. The idea that essential worker

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<v Speaker 1>also is the lowest paid and therefore, apparently in economic term,

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<v Speaker 1>the least value worker doesn't really make sense to a

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<v Speaker 1>lot of economists. Ups and then I think that businesses

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<v Speaker 1>will have to be examine. The last thing I wanted

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<v Speaker 1>to ask is because there's just some interesting notes in

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<v Speaker 1>it about which states would be the most affected by

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<v Speaker 1>these extra benefits expiring. Nevada would be the worst state affected.

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<v Speaker 1>They have the highest share of workers who are getting

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<v Speaker 1>these enhanced benefits. Nevada's economy has really been decimated by

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<v Speaker 1>a coronavirus because so much of it is tied to

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<v Speaker 1>Las Vegas tourism. The vast majority people that live in

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<v Speaker 1>Nevada live in the Las Vegas area, and most are

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<v Speaker 1>within one or two degrees to the casino and entertainment industry.

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<v Speaker 1>So you know, even people like doctors and accountants, you know,

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<v Speaker 1>they are getting their business by helping people who work

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<v Speaker 1>at these hotels and casino So that area has been

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<v Speaker 1>really hard hit, and you know some of them have

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<v Speaker 1>been allowed to reopen. But destinations the Hawaiian another place

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<v Speaker 1>they're really seeing their economy hit, whereas some places like

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<v Speaker 1>the Smoky Mountains in Tennessee, now they're doing a little

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<v Speaker 1>bit better because they're getting people who don't want to

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<v Speaker 1>fly to Hawaii and maybe they're willing to drive from

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<v Speaker 1>New York to Tennessee, for example. The conversation continues to

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<v Speaker 1>see what's going to happen with these extra benefits. I

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<v Speaker 1>can't imagine Congress not doing something, but what form it

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<v Speaker 1>will take is going to be the big question. Eric Morath,

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<v Speaker 1>Labor economics and policy reporter at The Wall Street Journal,

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<v Speaker 1>thank you very much for joining us. Sure, I'm happy

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<v Speaker 1>to join you as always. I'm Oscar Ramirez, and this

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<v Speaker 1>has been reopening America. Don't forget there today's big news stories.

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<v Speaker 1>You can check me out on the Daily Dive podcast.

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<v Speaker 1>Every Monday to Friday, so follow us in my heart

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<v Speaker 1>radio or wherever you get your podcast