Washington, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senator Barbara Boxer (D-CA) praised the Senate’s passage of legislation to extend unemployment insurance for nearly 2 million Americans who would have otherwise lost their benefits by the end of the year. The bill will extend benefits by 14 weeks for jobless workers across the entire country and by 20 weeks in states with unemployment rates higher than 8.5 percent, including California. The bill includes a provision which extends homebuyer tax credits to first time homebuyers as well as other qualified individuals who already own homes. The legislation also includes a provision to ease the burden of the economic downturn on struggling businesses by allowing them to use current operating losses to get a refund of prior taxes paid.

Senator Boxer said, “This bill comes at a critical time when millions of Americans and at least 170,000 Californians are at risk of losing their unemployment benefits. Extending benefits will not only help laid-off workers support their families while they look for jobs, it will also provide a boost to our economy.”

The bill also includes a homebuyer tax credit provision that extends the $8,000 tax credit for first time homebuyers until April 30, 2010. The bill gives a $6,500 credit to homebuyers who have been in their current residence for the last five years or more. The homebuyer credit also includes tax relief for military personnel and members of the Foreign Service and intelligence community, and anti-fraud language.

Additionally, the Net Operating Loss Carry-back provision would allow U.S. companies of every size to offset losses incurred in either 2008 or 2009 against income earned in any of the five previous years, limited to 50 percent of the taxpayer’s income in the fifth year. The NOL carryback provision reflects legislation cosponsored by Senator Boxer, which Senator Olympia Snowe (R?Maine) introduced earlier this year.

Senate Democrats overcame Republican efforts to block the legislation by including unrelated amendments. Extending unemployment insurance is crucial now because more than one in three jobless workers have been out of work for at least six months and every day 7,000 Americans lose their unemployment benefits. California’s unemployment rate is 12.2 percent.

Extending unemployment insurance also will help stimulate the economy. Every $1 spent on unemployment benefits generates $1.61 in new economic demand. The legislation is also fiscally responsible, with the Congressional Budget Office concluding that the benefits extension will be fully offset.

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