Some lawmakers pushing for a permanent expansion of unemployment aid

A group almost 40 Democratic lawmakers are asking President Joe Biden to overhaul the unemployment system by permanently enacting some pandemic-relief measures, such as allowing gig-economy workers to continue collecting jobless benefits. 

In a letter sent Friday to Mr. Biden, the lawmakers argue that traditional jobless benefits fail to reflect the realities of the modern workforce, as well as providing far too little aid for families when people lose their jobs. The signers include Senator Bernie Sanders, Senate Finance Committee Chair Ron Wyden and Representative Adam Schiff.  The appeal comes a year after the pandemic caused U.S. unemployment to surge to the highest level since the Great Depression, prompting lawmakers to introduce temporary fixes to a system that critics have called out as insufficient and backward.