blind you. find your loved one. again, there's something horriblys despicable about allf this but in particular that one. that just affects me. and thank you for your service is not an easy job. it is not an easy task. he did a good job, very forthright in your testimony. and please, convey the strong support to the men and women of your department and of this committee and also for me personally. so that, the hearing will remain open until august 21st until 5:00 p.m. for submission of statements and this hearing is adjourned. and also for me personally. with that from the hearing will remain open. adjourned.g is

[background sounds]. [background sounds]. weeknights this month, we are featuring book to these programs as a preview of what is available every weekend on "c-span2". tonight, starting at eight eastern, the theme is world war ii. first, eric larson lisette prime minister winston churchill's leadership during the london blitz.

then, catherine provides a history of the female pilot who served in the u.s. army air forces during the war. and later, journalist jack fairweather, recounts the efforts of vito plus key, member of the polish resistance and volunteered to be deliberately sent to sabotage policy operations and report on the atrocities in the camp. enjoy book tv, on "c-span2". >> joining us now, via zone for conversation about state and federal unemployment insurance and a senior economist in the nonpartisan nonprofit. and for employment research in kalamazoo, michigan. let's start with the plaintiffs more earthly backwards from there. president trump's executive action when he came to an employment insurance. he signed this weekend. what actually did and howee that compares what was offered under

the cares act. guest: good morning johnn and thank you for having me on. certainly i've addressed the executive order. it read it. and i think i understand the true projective pretty well first let me back up if i make. and talk about this whole idea of complementing the unemployment rate i think there has been eight recessions since the eisenhower ministration. and everyone, the federal government has extended the due duration of the unemployment insurance. there was a modest additional compensation added during the great recession in 2009. there was $25 added. to every benefit check. went largely unnoticed. in very low benefits read but the $600 really recognizes that

the existing unemployment insurance is inadequate in many ways. i think the president's executive order, let's hope it was an effort to bridge the impasse and it turns that the $600 lump sum, made a lot of sense in many ways and there are a lot of ways and reasons, and very little negative effects following the research from it. and a lot of positive effects in terms of the social distancing and social security. but thee executive order. i don't know that it has standing. i think the means committee represented, as a string. anything there will be involved at some point before this thing gets dissolved. in the present president modeled

something which is an emergencyy program. and the cares act incorporated something that senator peters michigan actually tatted which was the pandemic and employment resistance which was separate from disaster because the disaster unemployment insurance requires all kinds of rgemergency declarations. in the current arrangement is simpler. so the presidents proposal was $300. which was theio last bargaining position became out of the senate on this. several times he said $400 would be sufficient. he's counting on in the executive orders. pulling up the extra $100 per check. and just among the states benefits, last week there were

17 million checks passed out produce a $100, is $1.7 billion a week the states are already facing difficulties paying regular benefits read 19 states have applied for loans from the treasury, 11 or have already received advances from the treasury. despite the level of preparation going into this, the state reserves are being depleted. and remember john that the worst ever week of unemployment insurance claims, and the history was about a million a week. and then right after st. patrick's day, there were 6 million people claimingen benefits. that is a staggering difference and that persisted for a couple of weeks. and finally to about $3m now is running about a million half just greater than the historic

high ever. and so the system is paying out benefits and to a large extent it's supplements, i would carefully, with the presidents proposal, was very disappointed to see that the president supplement would not providet y benefits to people with weekly payments under $100. i asked myself why. then employment insurance program served many people and done a lot of work and the relationships between plunemployment insurance and public assistance, unemployment insurance and food stamps. and people who get a little bit of an employment insurance really helps them avoid sliding into poverty. so people who are though wage workers are w part-time workers may qualify for a full level of benefits, maybe a less than $100 npretty benefits can be as low s

$5 week. in many states is $50 a week. so why would be exclude them from the settlement. the settlement is giving people security. and social distancing and helping tamp down the virus. and it's also scheduled excuse me but it ends on december 6th which is a peculiar date. it's after the election but right before christmas. why would you indent . image on, i hope i address some of that prey to. john: i talk tont some of those people that you are referring to. an invite those folks on a special line pretty if you are unemployed 20274 - one argue into this conversation. a deep dive into federal and state unemployment insurance this morning with christopher o'leary.

he's for employment research. for folks who don't know the institute, he's briefly, explain that you are and how long you been around. guest: sure john, thank you. actually, this year is our 75th anniversary. it was established in 1945 right after the 1 war. it was established based on an endowment was a founder of the drug company in kalamazoo. an71932 was actually a month before he died. he grew up on a farm. and at the time, it was very to transition from a farm economy to an industrial economy. and really unemployment insurance, was a program for an industrial economy where people are separated from the land. they need assistance. they set out the farms outside of kalamazoo where people could set up maybe build a cottage. grow crops.

he also had assets that were put into thepu endowment. and some people didn't use it at that. some people, grant making foundation andnd finally create. for employment researcher in 1945. the study of positive unemployment and ways of dealing with of dealing with an employment. was brightest.n john: christopher o'leary, senior economist . spent time studying on the planet. when it comes to today and what is happening right now this enemy. how many americans are currently receiving some form of unemployment insurance but are from state or from the federal government. guest: lastly, the report comes out every thursday morning. 31 million people were continuing to claim on unemployment.en 17 million were regular state beneficiaries, or the programs.

there were about 13 million of the pandemic assistance which is available for self-employed, contract workers and others who do not qualify for regular state benefits. and there are several categories. pretty simple, there you might not meet the eligibility requirements. but your home taking care of kids were in school. but you could qualify under unemployment assistance. so is about 13 million people receiving that. 31 million people john, is a staggering number. john: do have a total of how much has been spent unemployment insurance additionally because of the coronavirus pandemic. has anybody told the yet. guest: will going into this recession.

states that about 76 billion in reserves. that was enough under recent scenarios to pay about one point or about 18 months, 19 months of benefits. given that the rate of payout is about three times the worst ever, their present level is evaporating. i think in about seven months. so most every state will have tomorrow. right now, there is zero interest being charged on loans to the states at least through december the first. i think any part of the new legislation needs to address an extension. to repay those loans. so the program, has ejected hundred and billions of goes into the, a major reason why we

have not gone into a worse recession at this point. john: let's go to the scholars. and christopher o'leary is an the top of the hours with us. in las vegas on the line for those who are unemployed. goodod morning. guest: good morning. okay mr. ali eric, i'm unemployed right now. i think that right now, i don't know if this is a good idea rated shouldow they give mandaty stimulus checks who are two people who are billionaires and they should give nothing to people who are unemployed. christopher o'leary: thank you for your question. i think maybe what you are talking about is the pay roll

protection plan pretty in the comparison between payroll protection plan in the employment insurance payroll protection plan, first numbers about that. and it has cost about $99000 to maintain jobs in the payroll protectionot plans. but anybody with incomes over 100,000, is not going to get. some people are less then 99000 are covered under that payroll protection plan. the money can be used to pay for rent, utilities, the cost of health insurance. now if you think about a unemployment insurance. and really, i think the payroll protection plan is a way to inflate people from slipping into the unemploymentun program. and everybody has to rely on the unemployment insurance program. i think more people realize the need to improve the program. if you think about the unemployment insurancens progra,

even with the $600, given that the average weekly benefit is about 300's of the $5 are you talking about thousand dollars a month income replacement on average which is somebody making $52000 a year. which is a working-class person in america today who has real expenses and real bills to pay. it is concerned about going out into the virus and want to avoid transmission. and so is genius really to give people some adequate security.y. i think if everybody was looking at the unemployment insurance, as a means of support during this crisis, instead of may be something like the payroll protection plan which has been suggested to some very wealthy people have benefited from. i think we would all have more interest in maintaining an adequate income replacement of

unemployment insurance. thank you. john: alexander, also on that line for unemployed americans. daytona beach florida pretty ongood morning. guest: good morning. i one question. give any information about the state of florida. three weeks ago, i have not received anything. i called the number. e-mail. numerous times to claim my money and unlocked out pretty good to talk to the agencies for the assistance of the tell me that you have to wait until they contact you. christopher o'leary: thank you alexander. question.n excellent we've been studying the unemployment insurance system for 70 yearsng here. and we have looked at what this

employmentf an insurance is a must before this crisis. ri've been writing that it needs improvement. and if you look at the recipients right across the state, and varies between about 11 or 12 percent of all unemployed floridians getting unemployment insurance. and to about 52 percent of new jersey residents who are unemployed. and they are getting events. that is a big difference. there's some other states that are at the low end. a lot of states in the southeast, haveth very low recipients rate. going into the crisis, the koster, the states are particularly less prepared to handle an influx of claims. so the kind of surprising are

not surprising that the system is slow. i think alexander, you should not give up. if you have numbers. you can always go to the one stop .org and put in your zip code and get your nearest service center. they willg help you. please keep calling. don't give up. if you've found something on the internet and you had a problem returning it. it's hard to get through the intro to those people. sometimes you have to sit and wait for hours. but you have got money on the line. coming back to you and from the day that you first art separated in going backk at least 12 weeks we should be able to be brought groupiv act to inflate retroactively paid. my advice to you and everybodyev who has trouble sitting in through the system system keep trying. families first pandemic act at a billion dollars in stimulus bill for the ministration.

those the first thingne that was put on the frontlines friend we said we are going to need the unemployment insurance. what administration. but it's hard to do it overnight right and i think florida is trying a good effort to supplement and have steroid staff and improve the computer systems. you just need to keep trying. because that lump-sum wealth hope you get through this crisis. john: we have a lot of numbers. you had talked about before, more than 30 million americans who have received anho appointmt insurancere throughout this process pretty and you square that with the monthly unemployment report that said there are 16.3 unemployed persons in this country read how does that work. it's been three is based on different data. an employment insurance is claims data. so there have actually been i

think close to 50 million people apply fork benefits. i think at least million people have received benefits to some point since mid-march now. right now, still 31 million on unclaimed pretty is a difference in the timing. when a unemployment insurance, the rate estimates are produced by bureau labor of statistics is monthly survey. an interview people during the week with the 12th of the month in the week. mask you are you available to work. if you're out off work, them wil classify you as unemployed brady have to be answering all of that. and in that measurement also in the timing. so at this point, i think more reliable measure of the stress trin the economy is the

unemployment numbers. actually if you try to get numbers john, at the local or manyy states, the numbers there are actually based on the unemployment insurance claims. and there's a method with a combined the census data in the claims data and they have about 40 applications that they go through. i cannot tell you exactly why. but there are methods of can we do that. it's a serious question right cs right now pretty. john: tony's on that light from missouri pretty good morning. guest: good morning. john: justow turned on your television so we can hear you well. guest: yes. i'm handyman service. my business hasn't been affected

so much by this. by the pandemic but i see a lot of businesses that have been affected and eight see how it is working in all of this beneficial money is working against the employers are laying off the employees so they can collected quite a large check every week instead of the smaller check the business pays them. and not working part-time so that they can collect a part-time paycheck and a full-time unemployment check. and on occasion i have to help people help me and so i don't keep employees. but it's difficult to get people to work now with this free money. i was just curious about that in your opinion on that. christopher o'leary: thank you for the call. i thinkin that is a very importt point tony. and i want to thank you pretty

one of the essential workers out there is continuing to serve the public during this crisis. i'm sure when you go into provider service, whether you're providing another business or a phone, you're trying to practice distancing. it is a challenge for all of us. but not every business operates one on one. like you do. some businesses even small businesses have several workers in a vertical space. and finally, by using the word sharing program, an employer could resume hours for everybody in the workplace by 50 percent. and everybody continues to get paid half their wages so there's enough space in the workplace for them to avoid social contact

and the get out of there and unemployment benefits. so instead of getting $400 unemployment benefits, they would get $200. but they would get the lease during the period of july 31s july 31st, the $600 extra. so the wise manager or business owner, incentive laying half of his workers off completely and operating. to keep everybody on and they continue to get the benefits may be health insurance and other things, and they would also equally get supplemented. were not out there interacting. we have to be at home. we are insecure often at home. frankly, would be surprised your business benefited from people on a few dollars to repair a few things on the house that they have been putting off. i think there's always more than one way to look at things. no wish you will this crisis.

john: this is albert in vancouver, washington. unemployed. guest: good morning john and christopher. i had a question regarding what employers pay on unemployed washington. there's a huge debacle in the state of washington. anybody plenty currently a student knows that nigerian group of some sort, of course to a billion dollars, and is the exact figure. it's been a complete mess. they shuts down an appointment for hundreds of thousands of washingtonians. immediately, upon the investigation, it has been a travesty. anyoneyo facebook, is a support group. i think there's of course to close to 20000 participants. i'm curious about what employers payy into an appointment insurance previous to be an entrepreneur but that is going way back. and 58 and going 159. curious, is based on a number of

employees. are you multinational, small business with that rate is. does it vary from state to state. and, anytime you offer a system that's going to payay somebody $600 going to get some outliers. and when you include a lot of different people, the parameters change medically. there's a big assumption i think is that just go back, i think there's a huge divide us to whah pay ranges we need to work state to state. since no wonder the people would say, while i will collect the $600 because i work hard and i get paid very little. in a 59, i have parts and 16 growing up in chicago, i have a tremendous work ethic . tonight by the entire system and i have lost faith incredibly in america

during this whole pandemic. the variety of systems that have failed to the constituency. the guys dc, because side of the aisle. i don't really care. their bickering and again. americans are suffering. suffering right now. so were g getting this from the state right now this guys in washington, they continued to say, what a three-day weekend. or perhaps debate taking a full week off again. it's just astounding. and it saddened. christopher o'leary: you put a lot of things onf the table. number one argued thank you for calling in from vancouver. thank you for being so early the morning pickup. been there and have worked in washington state several times. i've had several research inprojects there. back in the 80s pretty in washington state has one of the best unemployment insurance systems in the nation.

about the scam, so actually in 1980. when we ran some experiments, there is a difference between reemployment bonus where you give people cash after they get thto work hard off of unemployment. it was some people are calling the extra 600 which is not a bonus, it is a supplement. back in those days, in order to file their claims foror benefits in washington state, had walk-in to the office and sign the register. and frequently they would give you the payment in cash. in dollars right there. right there at the teller window. you can get the payment right there. you would bring in the form and you would state, and search for work in you and sign it. you've contact the following employers. you have to attest to its brain and there was, washington is a

big state and there's a lot of rural areas was difficult for people to get in. more automated mechanisms and applications. when a cashless society now. so the first step was to give people arts writing where the cash was t loaded. but then you give them $600, that in one y part, you wanted n you your account. so direct deposit. so with automatic application systems and direct deposits. as fraud possibilities. there's also pressure in the unemployment system to pay benefits. in the 1970s, in california, they set the standard for timeliness of pain and ten payment. so assessing the eligibility and knowing for sure before you pay the benefit. >> why next, the massachusetts

democratic u.s. primary debate. encampment senator edward faces challenger, congressman joe kennedy the third. this debate is hosted by td in boston. from institutions primary in september 1st. ... ... the senate debate for mechanics in september 1 primary grade i am john keller , political analysis for wbz. and across the country on c-span. and our radio audience on wbz news radio 10:30.