Accounting Today: Senate Bill Would Stop Unemployment Payments to Millionaires
A bipartisan group of senators has introduced a bill that would end unemployment payments to jobless millionaires.
Senators Tom Coburn, R-Okla., Mark Udall, D-Colo., Jon Tester, D-Mont., and John McCain, R-Ariz., introduced the bill. They estimate it would save up to $100 million by stopping federal unemployment payments to those earning more than $1 million.
“Allowing individuals who earned more than $1 million last year to collect unemployment benefits is indefensible,” said Coburn. “This is a common sense, bipartisan spending cut. Ending this practice will save nearly $20 million every year and correct a gross injustice against unemployed Americans who didn’t earn $1 million last year.”
According to IRS statistics, 2,840 individuals with an adjusted gross income of over $1 million received a total of $18.6 million in unemployment payments in 2008. This included more than 800 people earning over $2 million, and 17 with incomes exceeding $10 million. In all, multimillionaires were paid $5.2 million in jobless benefits.
