Bill Cassidy Takes a Vacation After Failing to Pass Unemployment Relief for 400,000 Louisianans

Bill Cassidy Takes a Vacation After Failing to Pass Unemployment Relief for 400,000 Louisianans

BATON ROUGE, LA – Thursday, Sen. Bill Cassidy and his colleagues in the Senate adjourned until September 8th after failing to pass much-needed emergency unemployment relief. While Cassidy takes his paid vacation, 400,000 Louisianans are seeing their unemployment payments slashed.

Senate Republicans failed to come to the table with an adequate plan, allowing vital $600 extended unemployment benefits to expire on July 25. Since March, Cassidy voted against the extended benefits in the CARES Act and advocated for cutting the payments.

With no Congressional plan for emergency relief, Cassidy endorsed a patchwork of emergency orders that would cut enhanced payments in half to just $300 and could be delayed for weeks.

“While hundreds of thousands of Louisiana families are struggling to keep a roof over their heads, Bill Cassidy is taking a paid vacation,” Sen. Karen Carter Peterson, Chair of the Louisiana Democratic Party said. “Instead of working to pass the relief package our state desperately needs, Cassidy wasted months on partisan political fights and pointing fingers. Now, 400,000 out-of-work Louisianans are uncertain what the next month will look like with bills due and slashed unemployment payments that are weeks away.

“The people of Louisiana are in desperate need of leadership during this crisis, but Cassidy left them behind. Louisiana deserves a leader in the Senate who will fight for them with urgency every day – not just when it’s convenient.”