Happy Thursday and welcome back to On The Money, where we always love Dolly Parton. I’m Sylvan Lane, and here’s your nightly guide to everything affecting your bills, bank account and bottom line.
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THE BIG DEAL—Yellen, Walsh rule out extension of pandemic jobless aid: Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen and Labor Secretary Marty Walsh said Thursday that the Biden administration will not seek an extension of pandemic jobless aid programs but encouraged states to use funding from the $1.9 trillion stimulus package to support unemployed workers.
In a Thursday letter to congressional leaders, Yellen and Walsh said it is “appropriate” for a $300 weekly boost to unemployment insurance and other expanded benefits programs to expire as scheduled on Sept. 6.
The background:
- The March stimulus bill extended the $300 weekly supplement, the Pandemic Unemployment Assistance program for gig workers and contractors and Pandemic Emergency Unemployment Compensation — which provides up to 53 weeks of additional aid — through Labor Day.
- Roughly 7.5 million jobless workers will lose all of their unemployment aid after when those programs expire and millions more will receive substantially less without the $300 federal supplement.
“The temporary $300 boost in benefits will expire on September 6th, as planned. As President Biden has said, the boost was always intended to be temporary and it is appropriate for that benefit boost to expire,” Yellen and Walsh wrote to Senate Finance Committee Chairman Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) and House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Richard Neal (D-Mass.).
“In addition, President Biden believes that the conditions exist in many states such that the other emergency UI [unemployment insurance] programs … can end on the date set in the American Rescue Plan.” I explain why here.
LEADING THE DAY
Treasury: Few small business owners will see tax hikes under Biden proposal: The Biden administration on Thursday said few small-business owners would see their taxes increase under the president’s proposal to raise the top income tax rate for high earners.
- The White House issued a fact sheet highlighting a new Treasury Department analysis that found that less than 3 percent of small-business owners would be affected by Biden’s proposal to increase the top federal income tax rate from 37 percent to 39.6 percent.
- The analysis focused on small businesses filing as S-corporations and partnerships and on certain parts of individual income tax returns.
- The administration also said that 3.9 million small-business owners would receive tax cuts under Biden’s proposals to extend the expansions of the child tax credit and Affordable Care Act subsidies that were included in the president’s coronavirus relief law.
“President Biden’s small-business agenda is about more than just helping businesses make it to the other side of this crisis, it is about building back better and creating a fair economy for all Americans,” Deputy Treasury Secretary Wally Adeyemo said on a call with reporters.
The Hill’s Naomi Jagoda breaks down the proposal here.
More than 323K disabled borrowers to receive automatic student loan forgiveness: The Biden administration on Thursday announced it would line up more than 323,000 borrowers with a total and permanent disability (TPD) for $5.8 billion in automatic federal student loan forgiveness.
- The Education Department announced that it would no longer make those classified as totally and permanently disabled by the Social Security Administration (SSA) apply for their federal student loans to be discharged.
- Instead, borrowers with TPDs will be able to receive automatic forgiveness thanks to a new rule allowing student loan servicers to match customer data with the SSA.
Federal law allows student borrowers with TPDs to seek forgiveness of their federal student loans on the grounds that they would not be able to make enough to pay them off. Those with TPDs may receive Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) or Supplemental Security Income (SSI), meaning the SSA would likely have the necessary information to determine if they qualify for student loan forgiveness. I have more here.
GOOD TO KNOW
- Sen. Steve Daines (R-Mont.) asked President Biden to renominate Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell in a Thursday letter as the White House mulls an opportunity to reshape the central bank.
- About 61 percent of households owed no federal income taxes last year, an increase from previous years that was driven by the coronavirus pandemic, the Urban-Brookings Tax Policy Center (TPC) said in an analysis this week.
- New applications for jobless aid fell by 29,000 last week and hit a post-lockdown low, according to data released Thursday by the Labor Department.
- Amazon is reportedly considering making further expansions into the retail space by opening several large physical retail locations similar to department stores to offer items from top consumer brands.
ODDS AND ENDS
- The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) on Thursday filed an amended complaint in its antitrust case against Facebook after an initial courtroom setback earlier this summer.
- Op-Ed: “China’s challenge to the global economy”