House Speaker John A. Boehner said Tuesday that he does not think that the Senate Democrats push to restore unemployment benefits for the long-term unemployed is workable.
Speaking to reporters at the Capitol, Mr. Boehner said that he has been told by the directors of state unemployment insurance programs that it would be virtually impossible to enforce a bill retroactively.
“The state directors are saying, ’We don’t know who went back to work, we don’t know who is still out there, so we would have to send checks to everybody,’” the Ohio Republican said. “I don’t think taxpayers expect us to do that. So I don’t see how that is workable.”
The Senate reached a bipartisan deal earlier his month to renew the jobless benefits for the long-term unemployed and that would open the door for retroactive payments to go to more than two million Americans who saw their coverage lapse in December.
• Seth McLaughlin can be reached at smclaughlin@washingtontimes.com.
Please read our comment policy before commenting.