After struggling against a filibustering Republican Party for months, the Senate has successfully voted on a bill that will extend unemployment benefits to those who have been out of work for more than six months.

The 60-40 vote was largely along party lines. Only one Democrat, Sen. Ben Nelson of Nebraska, voted against the bill. The bill will now be sent to the House, which is expected to quickly pass it along to the White House for approval. If passed, the program will provide benefits to approximately 2.5 million people whose coverage has lapsed in the past year.

Democrat supporters have argued that extending unemployment benefits will improve the US economy by providing families and individuals with the funds that they need to start spending again. A stagnant workforce without unemployment benefits cannot afford to spend money on consumer goods, which means that the economy slows down even more, making it more difficult for companies to create jobs.

Some Republicans agree with this perspective. They do not, however, agree with the way that the current bill plans to pay for those benefits. Minority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky explains that his party would prefer to pay for the benefits by cutting funds to other programs.  From his perspective, borrowing more money will only add to the nation’s debt, which has continued to grow for more than a decade as the United States struggles to pay for multiple wars while maintaining quality of life programs that Americans have come to expect from its federal government.

(Image via: Life News)