President Obama is planning to include a new unemployment insurance proposal in his budget next month that would provide supplemental income to workers who lose their jobs and take new ones at lower salaries, the Washington Post reports.
The wage insurance plan would apparently replace half of a worker’s lost wages — up to $10,000 over two years, for workers earning up to $50,000 a year.
States would also be required to provide at least 26 weeks of unemployment insurance for workers.
While the White House indicated the proposal would be fully funded in the budget, it gave no sign as to how much the plan would cost. Instituting a slightly higher employers’ unemployment insurance tax would be one way the federal government could pay for it.
Obama’s budget for fiscal year 2017 is scheduled to be released on Feb. 9.
