Pat Dollard

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The Hill:

Advocates are optimistic Congress will extend federal unemployment benefits before the end of the year despite the supercommittee’s failure.

The cost of extending the federal unemployment benefits for a year is $44 billion.

If a bill isn’t cleared by Congress before Dec. 31, 2.1 million people could lose their benefits by mid-February, and 6.1 million would see their checks vanish by the end of next year, the National Employment Law Project has estimated.

“People understand with the economy the way it is we can’t abandon long-term unemployed and families and we can’t pull $90 billion out of the economy,” said Judy Conti, federal advocacy coordinator with the group.

The extension covers only those who have exhausted their 26 weeks of state jobless insurance or who are working their way through the federal tiers. It doesn’t extend benefits beyond 99 weeks.

Conti and other advocates for the unemployed say they are optimistic another vehicle will be found in part because of the rhetoric of Republicans, who have not criticized the program in recent weeks.

Another positive sign, Conti said, is that while talk about the issue has been subdued, discussions are escalating on reauthorizing the federal benefits.

Conti said she expects a flurry of activity when Congress returns next week and that the “powers that be will drop that package and figure out a path forward to make that happen.”

House Democrats aren’t wasting any time ramping up their push for a yearlong extension of jobless benefits.

House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (Calif.) Minority Whip Steny Hoyer (Md.), and Assistant Leader James Clyburn (S.C.) sent a letter this week to Speaker John Boehner (Ohio) calling on him to ensure passage of the benefits by the end of the year.

Those supporting a reauthorization of unemployment benefits say not acting by Christmas could force consumers to curtail spending, employers to hold back hiring and have a broader effect on the slowly improving economy.

The toughest part of a deal will be finding an offset for the unemployment benefits. When they were last extended in December 2010, they were included in a larger package that also extended all of the Bush tax rates for two years. That legislation was not offset with other spending cuts.