This morning, President Obama signed the Worker, Homeownership, and Business Assistance Act of 2009 (H.R. 3548) into law.  Originally titled the Unemployment Compensation Extension Act of 2009, this Act will extend by 14 weeks unemployment benefits in all 50 states. Those states with high, sustained rates of unemployment – averaging at least 8.5 % over a three-month period – will receive up to 20 additional weeks of benefits.

The Senate approved this measure by a vote of 98-0 on November 4. Although the House had approved a less expansive version of this bill in September, it voted 403-12 to pass the Senate’s amended version on November 5. Despite Congress’s overwhelming approval of this legislation, final passage was delayed several weeks when a number of senators sought to include amendments that were unrelated to unemployment.  The amendments the Senate eventually agreed to incorporate in the final bill extend through April 30, 2010 the $8,000 first-time homebuyer tax credit, and allow businesses to apply their 2008 or 2009 operating losses to any five years prior to 2008, enabling them to receive tax refunds for those years. Those businesses that accepted funds through the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP) would be ineligible for this tax relief. In addition, the Act contains provisions updating the Unemployment Insurance Modernization provision in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act to allow victims of sexual assault who have left their job to be eligible for benefits under the “compelling family reasons” clause. This measure is funded by extending the employer-paid Federal Unemployment Tax Act (FUTA) surtax until June 30, 2011.