Support Peaceful Protest Act would make people convicted of rioting ineligible for federal CARES Act unemployment benefits

GovTrack.us
GovTrack Insider
Published in
3 min readSep 28, 2020

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Rep. Jim Banks (R-IN3)
Sen. Tom Cotton (R-AR)

Should they be disallowed from receiving several hundred extra dollars a week from taxpayers?

Context

Established in late March by the CARES Act due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the congressionally-enacted $600 weekly federal unemployment benefit ended in late July. It was subsequently reinstituted as a halved $300 weekly benefit by a President Trump executive order, but not available to residents of all states. While much of the supplemental CARES Act funding has ended, the length of time that federal unemployment benefits are available is currently through the end of the year.

Protests about racism, policing, and inequities have gripped U.S. cities for several months. While peaceful protests are protected by the First Amendment, rioting is a federal crime, and the Trump Administration’s Justice Department has prosecuted people for rioting (or inciting rioting) in summer 2020.

A viral photo in August showed a protester outside the White House giving two middle fingers to an elderly Indiana couple as they left Trump’s White House speech accepting the Republican presidential nomination. While not a riotous act, the incident helped inspire that elderly couple’s congressman to introduce a new bill.

What the bill does

The Support Peaceful Protest Act would strip any person convicted of rioting from receiving federal CARES Act unemployment benefits. It would also subject the person to a fine equal to the amount that a court determines it cost law enforcement to police that activity or protest.

The House version was introduced on August 28 as bill number H.R. 8117, by Rep. Jim Banks (R-IN3). The Senate version was introduced on September 9 as bill number S. 4553, by Sen. Tom Cotton (R-AR).

What supporters say

Supporters argue the legislation cracks down on those bad actors who are destroying property and looting businesses, preventing taxpayers from keeping those criminals afloat.

“Thugs are descending on suffering communities, disrupting peaceful protests and leaving violence, looting and vandalism in their wake. They turned Milwaukee, Seattle and Portland into warzones, and now they’re moving the chaos to Kenosha, Wisconsin,” Rep. Banks said in a press release. “Who knows which community is next?”

“Due to enhanced federal benefits, taxpayers are giving wages to jobless rioters that are destroying our communities,” Rep. Banks continued. “We need to cut them off from their funding and make them feel the full financial consequences of their actions.”

“Currently, thugs and insurrectionists savaging communities around the country are eligible for unemployment benefits, paid for by the very taxpayers whose property they’ve destroyed,” Sen. Cotton said in a separate press release. “The federal government should not be subsidizing looting and arson.”

What opponents say

GovTrack Insider was unable to locate any explicit statements of opposition, but opponents may note that other federal benefits such as Social Security are potentially eligible for those previously convicted of crimes.

Opponents may also claim that the legislation is more about trying to win points with the “law and order” crowd than to actually cut back on rioters’ federal unemployment benefits, since most unemployment insurance comes from the states.

Odds of passage

The House version has not yet attracted any cosponsors. It awaits a potential vote in either the House Judiciary or Ways and Means Committee.

Odds of passage are low in the Democratic-controlled chamber.

This article was written by GovTrack Insider staff writer Jesse Rifkin.

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