We absolutely, positively, must urgently reach a deal to prevent the $600/wk unemployment insurance from expiring (and do a whole lot of other things).

BUT, here are 4 reasons why the full $600 doesn't make sense & we shouldn't pretend like it has to be all or nothing on UI...

1. The $600 is already affecting incentives: Most parts of the country are at least partially open for business. I've heard a dozen first- or second-hand accounts that UI is affecting either a workers' motivation to seek/accept a job or business' ability to rehire...

People continue to point out that these effects are tough to find in the macro data. That's not terribly surprising -- there's a lot going on in that data and we wouldn't expect this to be a dominating effect (people are rightly scared of the virus!) ...

But I refuse to believe that all of the accounts I've heard are made up or that the ones I've spoken to or heard about are the only people in the country being affected

2. Those work disincentive effects will grow over time: We won't have full recovery until the virus is under control, but everyone's hope is that the labor market continues to heal in the 2nd half of this year. As that progresses, the full $600 will be a growing impediment

3. It's highly inequitable for a person on UI to be collecting substantially more than a similarly situated "essential" worker who is both putting in the hours and exposing themselves to risk...

Sure, we can talk about hazard pay, but that's easier discussed than implemented and it doesn't really speak to the full imbalance at hand. We can and should discuss how we make progress on livable wages, but that's not a debate we will resolve in this bill

4. Perhaps most important is the political economy angle: there will be a limit on the size of this relief package. Paying people a lot more than they previously made for another 6 months is almost certainly not the best use of those dollars...

Things like testing, state & local aid (to prevent layoffs), small biz relief, child care/schools, food stamps, housing relief, etc. are almost certainly more effective purposes

There are other, equally (or more) important, UI issues to address -- like the fact that millions of eligible people have either had to wait weeks or still are not getting their benefits and that state systems can't implement anything more complex than elementary school math...

But let's have a nuanced conversation about this incredibly important UI enhancement policy and get something enacted in the next week that is right for this moment as part of a broader package END https://bipartisanpolicy.org/blog/it-doesnt-have-to-be-all-or-nothing-how-unemployment-insurance-could-support-work-and-continue-to-provide-financial-relief/