Unemployment Extension 2014: Could John Boehner’s Job Provisions Work Like Maine’s Food Stamps?

The 2014 unemployment extension bill has Senators Dean Heller and Jack Reed scrambling to figure out how to pay for the legislation, but John Boehner’s job provisions requirement still hangs around like ironic elephant in the room. But could the food stamps program in Maine be a method by which they could kill two birds with one stone?

In a related report by The Inquisitr, talks about a 2014 unemployment extension bill are unfortunately very likely to transform into the 2015 unemployment extension bill consider the current lack of interest in the emergency unemployment compensation (EUC) program. Besides the fact that Republicans may win the 2014 mid-term elections, the other issue facing the bill’s safe passage is the fact that high U.S. national debt may put pressure on Social Security programs in general based upon a report from the CBO.

Congress’ August recess is already upon us but even before then the EUC was dead in the water. The House Rules Committee did not even bother putting the EUC on its final schedule for the week and even Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid chose to not attach the unemployment extension to the bill that funded the Highway Trust Fund. Other Democratic leaders could have attached the EUC to the supplemental spending bill but chose to ignore that proposed plan.

Still, Senator Heller is not giving up the fight:

“Jack [Reed] and I had a conversation last week just trying to figure — you know there are no pay-fors left out there — trying to figure out how we can move this thing forward. We haven’t given up, we are just still trying to figure out the our next move is.”

While it’s not directly related to the EUC debate, Maine Gov. Paul LePage recently proposed a food stamps policy that may be relevant to Boehner’s mysterious job provisions. LePage is requiring that able-bodied food stamps users be required to work 20 hours per week at assigned jobs or volunteer for a community agency. The Governor stated his reasons for this idea:

“People who are in need deserve a hand up, but we should not be giving able-bodied individuals a handout. We must continue to do all that we can to eliminate generational poverty and get people back to work. We must protect our limited resources for those who are truly in need and who are doing all they can to be self-sufficient. There is no excuse for able-bodied adults to spend a lifetime on welfare at the expense of hard-working, struggling Mainers.”

Obviously, unemployment benefits are not welfare despite being a Social Security program. But Maine’s food stamps work requirement would only apply to those who have been using the SNAP program for more than three months. Similarly, if a work requirement was attached to the unemployment extension bill it could only apply to the long term unemployed, which might be enough for John Boehner and other GOP leaders to support the EUC. This decision would echo Bill Clinton, who signed the 1996 Welfare Reform Act, which also had a work requirement.

Do you think the 2014 unemployment extension bill should have a work requirement?