Rep. Jim McDermott has offered a bill that would provide 13 weeks of extended unemployment benefits to people who live in states where the unemployment rate exceeds 8.5 percent, and who are scheduled to run out of benefits by the end of September, the Associated Press reports. The emergency legislation would affect over 300,000 people and is expected to pass easily, according to the AP.

McDermott, a Democrat from Washington, one of the states that would qualify for protection under the new legislation, introduced a bill in July that would have extended the compensation programs in the stimulus act through 2010. The more expensive bill would have been harder to pass, leading McDermott to offer the 13-week extension, the AP writes. According to McDermott, his new bill won't add to the deficit because it extends an annual federal unemployment tax of $14 per employee for one year that employers are already paying. Additionally, the bill would require better reporting on new employees to reduce unemployment insurance overpayments.

Andrew Stettner, deputy director for National Employment Law Project, a research and advocacy group, predicts Congress will have to continue extending jobless benefits through 2011.