# Unemployment Insurance Modernization and Recession Readiness Act
This legislation comprehensively overhauls the U.S. unemployment insurance system through three major sections. The bill modernizes extended benefits by making them fully federally funded, lowering the unemployment rate triggers that activate extended benefits from previous levels to 5.5 percent, adding additional weeks of benefits during high unemployment periods (up to 52 weeks when unemployment exceeds 8.5 percent), and protecting remaining benefits for up to six months after a state no longer qualifies for extended benefits.
The second major section updates regular unemployment compensation by establishing minimum standards across states: a floor of 26 weeks of benefits, minimum weekly benefit amounts equal to 75 percent of an individual's highest quarter earnings divided by 13, and maximum benefits set at two-thirds of each state's average weekly wage. The bill also expands eligibility by allowing part-time workers to claim benefits, improving access for individuals with caregiving responsibilities, eliminating waiting weeks before first benefits are paid, and broadening disqualification exemptions for workers who leave jobs due to illness, family care needs, unsafe conditions, or employer violations of labor laws.
Additionally, the bill creates a new "jobseeker allowance" providing weekly payments starting at $250 in 2025 (adjusted annually for inflation) to unemployed or underemployed individuals who meet income and work-search requirements, with enhanced amounts during periods of elevated national unemployment. The bill establishes dependents' allowances of $25 per dependent per week and requires states to offer self-employment assistance and short-time compensation programs. All provisions take effect January 1, 2025, or earlier if states change their laws, and the federal government fully funds the new extended benefits and allowance programs.
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