$600 weekly unemployment benefit must be extended past July 31 (petition)

Add your name to call on Congress to extend the $600 weekly unemployment assistance during the coronavirus pandemic.

Click here and add your name to the petition calling on Congress to extend the $600 weekly unemployment assistance during the coronavirus pandemic.

Dear MoveOn member,

The $600 federal unemployment boost is set to end on July 31.

The CARES Act passed by Congress includes a provision that gives an additional $600 per week to the unemployed Americans who lost their jobs during the coronavirus pandemic. This money is a lifeline for millions who are out of work and their families.

Democrats in Congress are fighting to extend this extra benefit past July 31, but Republicans, who control the Senate, think it encourages people not to look for work, ignoring the fact that the pandemic has decimated industries, and millions of people simply aren't able to find jobs. The unemployment rate is still the worst since the Great Depression: 1 in every 7.5 Americans in the labor force can't find work.¹

And economists are warning that ending the $600 benefit on July 31 would hurt not just American families but our nation's economy, too. Without that money, the average recipient's income would immediately fall, leading to less household spending.²

Congress must do the right thing and extend the $600 weekly additional unemployment assistance benefit.

Because of the coronavirus pandemic, millions of Americans have lost their jobs.

The federal $600 weekly unemployment supplement benefit included in the CARES Act is set to expire on July 31.

Unemployed Americans and their families can't survive without this benefit. Congress must expand the $600 weekly assistance until December 31, 2020, and longer if necessary.

Many people who are laid off due to the pandemic won't find work for a very long time—and maybe never, because some jobs won't be coming back. Some people will need time and resources to learn and develop new skills for new jobs.

An extension of the $600 weekly supplement benefit through January 2021 was included in the HEROES Act, approved by the Democrat-controlled House along partisan lines in May, but the bill has stalled in the Republican-led Senate.

If you are the recipient of this $600 unemployment benefit or want to make sure that folks are able to get by and take care of their families, call on Congress right now to extend the benefit past July 31. We need to look out for each other during these unprecedented times. 

Click here right now to add your name to this petition, and then pass it along to your friends.

Thanks!

–RJ Wolfe

Sources:

1. "Dems, GOP continue to spar over extension of extra $600 in unemployment benefits," CNBC, June 11, 2020
https://act.moveon.org/go/140598?t=10&akid=267289%2E10220574%2ESHi9xj

2. Ibid.

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