# Plain Language Summary: Ending Unemployment Payments to Jobless Millionaires Act of 2023

This bill would prevent wealthy people from collecting unemployment benefits. Specifically, it would make anyone with a net worth of $1 million or more ineligible to receive unemployment payments, even if they've lost their job and would normally qualify for benefits.

Right now, unemployment insurance doesn't have any wealth test—it only looks at whether you've recently lost a job and how much you earned. This bill would add a new rule: if you have $1 million or more in assets (your home, savings, investments, and other property combined), you can't get unemployment benefits no matter what. The idea behind it is that very wealthy people don't need government assistance the way someone without savings does.

In practice, this would affect a very small number of people. Most workers who lose their jobs don't have $1 million in net worth, so they wouldn't be impacted. The bill is really targeting situations where someone wealthy—perhaps a business owner or investor—loses income and would technically qualify for unemployment benefits. Supporters argue that unemployment insurance should go to people who genuinely need help, not to millionaires. Critics might counter that people pay into the unemployment system through payroll taxes regardless of wealth, so they should be able to access it if they need it.

Ending Unemployment Payments to Jobless Millionaires Act of 2023

Ernst, Joni

Ending Unemployment Payments to Jobless Millionaires Act of 2023This bill prohibits federal funds from being&nbsp;used to pay unemployment compensation to an individual whose adjusted gross income is equal to or greater than $1 million. The prohibition applies to payments under traditional unemployment compensation and the&nbsp;Extended Benefits&nbsp;program (i.e., benefits paid under the Federal-State Extended Unemployment Compensation Act of 1970).&nbsp;