On Thursday, House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Sander Levin (D-MI) and Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus (D-MT) introduced a summary of the American Jobs and Closing Tax Loopholes Act, (pdf) joint legislation that, among other things, extends emergency unemployment benefits and COBRA credits through the end of 2010, and provides pension funding relief for single- and multi-employer pension plans. The legislation will be introduced as a House Amendment to the American Workers, State, and Business Relief Act of 2010 (H.R. 4213), which the Senate passed in March as an amendment to the original Tax Extenders Act of 2009 that cleared the House in December.

According to the summary, (pdf) the joint bill contains provisions that would offer the following:

COBRA

• Extension of premium assistance for COBRA benefits. The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) created a program to provide a 65% COBRA health insurance premium subsidy for up to 15 months for workers who have been involuntarily terminated. After several extensions, eligibility for the COBRA premium assistance will expire for individuals terminated after May 31, 2010. The bill would extend eligibility for the program to individuals terminated on or before December 31, 2010.

Unemployment Insurance

• Extension of the Emergency Unemployment Compensation (EUC) program. The Emergency Unemployment Compensation (EUC) program is scheduled to phase out at the end of May 2010. This program provides up to fifty-three (53) weeks of extended benefits. The bill would extend the EUC program through December 2010.
• Extension of the Extended Benefits (EB) program. 100% federal funding for the Extended Benefits (EB) program is scheduled to phase out at the end of May 2010. This program provides up to an additional 13 to 20 weeks of benefits in certain states (i.e., 13 weeks for states at or above 6.5% unemployment and another 7 weeks for states at or above 8% unemployment). The bill would extend full funding for the EB program through December 2010.

Pension Funding Relief

• Single employer plan funding relief measures include: extended period for single employer defined benefit plans to amortize certain shortfall amortization bases; application of an extended amortization period to plans subject to prior law funding rules; suspension of certain funding level limitations; temporary allowance of election to apply balances against minimum required contribution; modification of the reporting requirement by requiring additional reporting if aggregate unfunded vested benefits of plans maintained by the sponsor exceed $75 million; and rollover of amounts received in airline carrier bankruptcy.
• Multiemployer plan funding relief measures include: optional use of 30-year amortization periods; optional longer recovery periods for multiemployer plans in endangered or critical status; modification of certain amortization extensions under prior law; alternative default schedule for plans in endangered or critical status; and the provision of transition rules for the certifications of plan status.

Miscellaneous Business Provisions

• Employer wage credit for activated military reservists. The bill would extend through 2010 the provision that provides eligible small business employers with a credit against the taxpayer’s income tax liability for a taxable year in an amount equal to twenty percent of the sum of differential wage payments to activated military reservists.
• Refundable AMT credits for corporations making domestic investments. The bill would allow corporations to receive a refund of a portion of their alternative minimum tax (AMT) credits if they invest during 2010 in capital equipment for use in the United States.

It is expected that the legislation will be considered by the House and Senate next week.