No Hiring Boom in States That Cut Unemployment Aid

Ken Cuccinelli at Senate Homeland Security Committee Hearing
Michael Brochstein
By Yuval Rosenberg

Quite a busy summer Tuesday!
Lots going on today, between the
harrowing testimony of police officers in the
first hearing of the House select committee investigating the
January 6 riots and the shocking
withdrawal of Simone Biles from the Olympic
women’s gymnastics team finals, in which the U.S. settled for
silver. On Capitol Hill, negotiators working on a bipartisan
infrastructure deal say they are still going for the gold, though,
as their marathon talks continue after some late stumbles. Here’s
what you need to know.

Biden Meets With Sinema as Senators Signal Progress on Snarled
Infrastructure Deal

President Joe Biden met Tuesday with Sen. Kyrsten Sinema (D-AZ),
the lead Democratic negotiator on the teetering bipartisan
infrastructure deal, as senators involved in the talks said that
they had made progress in resolving some lingering disagreements,
though other differences remain.

White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki said that both Biden and
Sinema remained hopeful that a deal could be reached. "Both feel
optimistic about the path forward and clearly both understand
having lived through many iterations of legislating and negotiating
before that it is always at the tail end when you have some of the
trickiest discussions," she said.

Sen. Mitt Romney (R-UT) also said he was optimistic, according
to
Bloomberg News. "Nothing’s 100%, but it looks
pretty good," he said.

Negotiators reportedly resolved a dispute over funding for water
infrastructure, Bloomberg’s Erik Wasson reports, but money for mass
transit remains a sticking point. Some Republicans are looking to
change a decades-long approach to dividing highway trust fund
spending on roads and mass transit, arguing that the traditional
80-20 split should be shifted and the transit share should be cut
to 18% given the billions of dollars provided elsewhere in the bill
for trains and buses.

Broadband regulation and prevailing wage provisions are
reportedly obstacles as well, as is the accounting for unused Covid
relief funds.

Other lawmakers growing more frustrated: While
negotiators have consistently expressed optimism, some of their
colleagues have less rosy views of the talks. "Republican and
Democratic Senate lunches turned into venting sessions Tuesday
afternoon," Politico’s Marianne LeVine and Burgess Everett
reported, adding that "the internal party
dissension illustrates that the physical infrastructure package is
far from a done deal."

What’s next: Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY)
is letting the talks continue without a hard deadline, and he
reiterated Tuesday that the Senate might have to work through the
weekend or cancel its August recess as he pushes to pass both a
bipartisan infrastructure package and a $3.5 trillion Democratic
budget resolution setting the stage for the rest of Biden’s
economic agenda. "We’re close," Schumer said. "We’re going to get
this done through the August recess if we have to stay,
period."

The bottom line: There may be too much at stake for the
talks to collapse at this point, with Democrats eager to advance
their larger spending package focused on "human infrastructure".
Sen. Joe Manchin (D-WV) told reporters Tuesday: "If the bipartisan
deal falls apart, then I think everything falls apart."

A $2 Billion Deal That Includes Funding for the Capitol
Police

On a day when all eyes were on members of the U.S. Capitol
Police testifying in Washington, senators from opposite sides of
the aisle said they had reached a deal on an emergency security
bill that includes about $100 million for the agency that protects
Congress.

Facing extraordinary expenses, the embattled police force has
warned that it could run out of money as soon as next month, and
the agreement would provide funds to reimburse costs incurred
during the January 6 assault on the Capitol complex by supporters
of former President Donald Trump, as well as trauma support for
officers and additional security for lawmakers who have received
threats.

The agreement would also provide $521 million to reimburse the
National Guard for expenses incurred in the aftermath of the
assault; about $300 million for security improvements around the
Capitol; and roughly $1.1 billion for a program to relocate Afghans
who assisted the U.S. military.

"We're going to take care of the Capitol Police and fix some of
the problems that need to be done here. Certainly, take care of the
National Guard," Senate Appropriations Committee Chairman Patrick
Leahy (D-VT) said. "Both sides had to compromise on some things,
but I think we're in pretty good shape."

Sen. Richard Shelby (AL), the senior Republican on the
Appropriations Committee, said he is "pleased this legislation
sticks to immediate security needs, as I have long advocated. ... I
urge my colleagues to support this important legislation."

What’s next: The House passed a $1.9 billion supplemental
security bill in May, so the chambers are getting close on the size
of the legislation. However, the House version includes $200
million for the National Guard to create a rapid response security
force for the nation’s capital, while the Senate agreement does
not, and that difference will have to be ironed out.

The Senate version could face resistance internally, as well,
with Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) indicating that he does not support the
Afghan relocation program. "That could be a problem," said Sen.
John Thune (R-SD), the minority whip. "If they decide to slow that
down or block it, yeah, we'll have to use a lot of floor time."

No Hiring Boom in States Cutting Unemployment Benefits Early:
Analysis

In an effort to speed jobless workers’ return to employment, 20
Republican-led states reduced unemployment benefits in mid-June.
But according to a new analysis, those states did not see a boom in
hiring, though they did see a change in the mix of workers getting
new jobs.

The
analysis, performed by the payroll processing firm
Gusto for The Washington Post, found that employment growth has
been roughly equal in states that ended the $300 per week
supplemental federal unemployment payments in June and those that
are continuing to pay them until Labor Day, when Congress scheduled
them to expire.

Using April 2021 as a base, the total number of employed people
rose by 11.6% in the states that cut unemployment benefits by the
end of June, and by 11.2% in the states that did not.

However, in the benefit-cutting states, more workers over the
age of 25 returned to work in June — an increase that was offset by
fewer teenagers getting jobs. By contrast, in the states
maintaining benefits a higher percentage of workers aged 15-19
found jobs.

"The findings suggest hiring is likely to remain difficult for
some time, especially in the lower-paying hospitality sector," the
Post’s Heather Long and Andrew Van Dam
write. "The analysis also adds perspective to the
teen hiring boom, revealing that more generous unemployment
payments played a role in keeping more experienced workers on the
sidelines, forcing employers to turn to younger workers."

Gusto economist Luke Pardue said the analysis shows that there
is no clear and simple relationship between the enhanced
unemployment benefits provided by Congress and the sluggish jobs
recovery. "If what we want is a speedy economic recovery, ending
unemployment insurance is not the silver bullet," he told the
Post.

Former Senate Budget Chair Mike Enzi Dies at 77

Former Sen. Mike Enzi (R-WY), who chaired the Senate Budget
Committee from 2015 until his retirement this past January,

died Monday after suffering serious injuries in a
bicycle accident Friday. He was 77. Enzi, a conservative, was
elected to the Senate in 1996 and served four terms, or 24
years.

Wyoming Rep. Liz Cheney, a fellow Republican who waged a
short-lived primary challenge against Enzi in the 2014 elections,
remembered him Tuesday as a mentor and teacher with a dry sense of
humor. "Mike was a straight-shooter, an honest broker, and a
soft-spoken but powerful advocate for the causes he cared deeply
about," she said in a
statement. "Whether it was pushing for fiscal
discipline as head of the Senate Budget Committee or fighting for
the needs of Wyoming’s energy industry, Mike was always guided by
principle and conviction."

Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT), the current head of the Senate
Budget Committee, called Enzi "a very decent human being" and
said
he "always found him to be friendly, civil and fair to all,
regardless of their political views."

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