Congress extends unemployment benefits, new homebuyer tax credit

Passed on November 5th, the bill extends unemployment benefits up to twenty additional weeks and the new homebuyer tax credit to contracts signed by April 30 and completed by June 30.

In a commendable move Thursday afternoon, the United States Congress passed a bill that will ensure persons receiving unemployment benefits in any U.S. state at least fourteen additional weeks of coverage. Additionally, the bill promises twenty weeks of extra coverage for states with an unemployment rate greater than 8.5%. Under this stipulation, residents of states like Michigan, California, and Nevada would be eligible for the benefits increase. According to CNN, the extended benefits apply to those whose benefits run out by December 31 of this year, which is estimated at nearly two million people. In addition, those whose benefits have already ceased will be eligible to re-apply for those same benefits "The bill will mark another step toward a boost in our economic growth and it will make critical investments for our families and our workers," said House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. "The legislation offers a lifeline to out-of-work Americans, to the men and women hardest hit by the recession." President Obama is expected to sign the bill into law on Friday, the same day that the government issues the monthly unemployment rate statistics. The bill is set to be funded by extending the federal unemployment tax on employers until June 30, 2011. In addition to the extension of employment benefits, the legislation also extends the new homebuyer tax credit to contracts signed by April 30 and closed by June 30 of 2010. Before this extension, the credit was set to expire this month. The bill also creates a $6,500 credit for those who buy a new home after living in their former home for at least five years. This measure uses the same deadline date as the new homebuyer tax credit.