Floridians will no longer be receiving $300 as unemployment benefits – starting from the coming Saturday.
The Florida Judge refuses to restore the $300 unemployment benefit for the weekly unemployment compensation benefits that was prematurely suspended earlier this summer. This comes as the Government federal unemployment assistance program is going to expire on Sept. 6 this year.
Allegedly, workers claim that the cancellation of the program and benefits is against the State’s law. However, the court made it clear that the governor made that decision within his authority.
Judge Layne Smith stated “This decision belongs solely to the state’s Chief Executive,” and added, “Ultimately, Governor DeSantis’s strategy to promote reemployment by ending Florida’s participation in the FPUC program is a political issue that the voters can approve or reject at the ballot box.”
Reportedly, out of all, 26 US states have suspended the unemployment benefits before the expiration, some have entirely cut while others have minimized them to battle with the increasing concerns regarding labor shortages. In response to this act, laborers from 15 states filed a lawsuit against the premature suspension of the benefits with New Hampshire this week.
As per the New Hampshire lawsuit, the State’s Employment Security Department did not have the authority to cancel out the federal programs prematurely.
The laborers who filed the lawsuit seem to be having mixed success in combating this issue.
In some states, including Maryland, Oklahoma, and Arkansas, the benefits program has been temporarily reinstated. While in the other states, like Louisiana, Ohio, Florida, and West Virginia, judges have denied resuming the program.
The Indiana court ruled that the State’s constitution did not require involvement or participation in federal government programs and added that the lower court “abused its discretion” when previously granting a preliminary injunction.
“Because we find that Indiana [law] does not require participation in the CARES Act programs, the state’s decision to terminate the benefits did not violate the statute,” said Judge James Kirsch
As per the estimates, Century Foundation reported, 4 million laborers have been affected by this early suspension of the unemployment benefits in the 26 states of the US.
According to another analysis done by Century Foundation, around 7.5 million unemployed individuals will be left without benefits at the week’s end.
The last remittance for the pandemic, which officially finishes on Sept 6 will be out on Saturday or Sunday, depending on every State’s policy.
The expiration of the program drastically affects the workers entirely relying on PUA, Pandemic Unemployment Assistance – started for those who couldn’t qualify for the PEUC, Pandemic Emergency Unemployment Compensation.
