Washington, D.C. – U.S. Senator Catherine Cortez Masto (D-Nev.) joined U.S. Senator Mark Warner (D- Va.) and 13 colleagues in cosponsoring the Mixed Earner Pandemic Unemployment Assistance Act of 2020, which would allow mixed income workers to access Pandemic Unemployment Assistance (PUA).
“Too many Nevadans have struggled to obtain Pandemic Unemployment Assistance benefits since the start of the coronavirus pandemic because they have mixed sources of income. Although we know that one job should be enough for anyone to live comfortably, that’s not the case for many. Independent contractors like gig workers, many entertainment industry workers and others who earn income both through 1099 compensation and W-2 wages have been given the run around and waited months for financial relief, only to find themselves eligible for far less than what they expected, deserve and need to provide for their families. I’m proud to cosponsor this bill to help ensure all hardworking Nevadans get the aid they deserve and that’s so desperately overdue.”
BACKGROUND:
Senator Cortez Masto is working hard to provide additional and expanded Unemployment Insurance (UI), including Federal Pandemic Unemployment Compensation (FPUC) and PUA benefits. She cosponsored the American Workforce Rescue Act to extend the $600-per-week unemployment benefit and the Worker First Act to help states improve their unemployment insurance systems by authorizing $10 billion to be distributed among states that take steps to ensure worker safety, as well as expand and modernize their unemployment insurance systems. The Senator also sent a letter in June to the Department of Labor requesting clarification for how states can best ensure gig workers get the unemployment benefits they deserve.
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