By a margin of 416-12, the House voted on June 19, 2008 to attach provisions extending unemployment insurance benefits into the Iraq and Afghanistan war supplemental bill (H.R. 2642), which also funds increased veterans’ benefits and Midwestern flood relief.  Incorporation of these provisions into the war supplemental appropriation virtually assures passage, given the strong bipartisan support for the war appropriation bill.

The move to attach the unemployment benefits provisions into the war supplemental appropriation follows the passage last week of the Emergency Unemployment Compensation Act of 2008 (H.R. 5749) by a margin of 274-137 on June 12. In the face of a presidential veto and hesitancy by the Senate Democratic leadership to take up the bill on a stand-alone basis, Democratic leaders in the House opted to change tactics and attach unemployment benefits to H.R. 2642.

The unemployment insurance provisions of H.R. 2642 closely resemble those of the Emergency Unemployment Compensation Act, and provide jobless workers who have exhausted their benefits with 13 additional weeks of benefits, with additional 13-week extensions to workers in states with the highest rates of unemployment. In order to achieve bipartisan passage, House Democrats agreed to drop a controversial provision of the stand-alone bill that would have eliminated the current 20-week work requirement to receive federal benefits.  Absent that provision, the Bush Administration has indicated support for the extension of unemployment benefits.

The Iraq and Afghanistan war supplemental bill, including the unemployment benefit provisions, now moves to the Senate for consideration.