A bipartsan deal, reached this afternoon, will extend expired unemployment insurance benefits for five months.
According to the Roll Call blog this "should be enough to overcome a GOP filibuster and get the package out of the Senate later this month. The proposal is paid for using a combination of offsets that includes extending “pension smoothing” provisions from the 2012 highway bill and extending customs user fees through 2024, according to a release. The bill also includes an additional offset allowing single-employer pension plans to prepay their flat rate premiums to the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation. The group led by Jack Reed, D-R.I., and Dean Heller, R-Nev., also includes Republicans Susan Collins of Maine, Rob Portman of Ohio, Lisa Murkowski of Alaska and Mark S. Kirk of Illinois. Portman and Kirk had voted to filibuster an unemployment extension in February, with Democrats coming up one vote short."
See the full Roll Call blog post here. A related Hill blog post can be found here.