GOP’s Jobless Benefit Plan Could Mean Delays

State officials across the U.S. say Senate Republicans’ proposed slashing of a federally funded boost in unemployment benefits could delay payments for weeks or even months. Democrats are pushing back, arguing that cutting the extra payments to $200 from $600 is bad policy – and that it’s hard to implement. It took some states a month earlier this year to program aging computer systems to handle the initial increase. Under the GOP plan, there would be a second and maybe more challenging step of boosting benefits – so they equal no more than 70% of a person’s previous income.