States on hook for billions under Trump's unemployment plan

Aug 10, 20200

Joseph Rushmore – New York Times count

People await help with unemployment claims at an event in Tulsa, Okla., on July 24, 2020. Nearly 1.2 million filed for state benefits last week, the lowest total since March, as economic readings offer only limited encouragement.

FALLS CHURCH, Va. - Whether President Donald Trump has the constitutional authority to extend federal unemployment benefits by executive order remains unclear. Equally up in the air is whether states, which are necessary partners in Trump's plan to bypass Congress, will sign on.

Trump announced an executive order Saturday that extends additional unemployment payments of up to $400 a week to help cushion the economic fallout of the pandemic. Congress had approved payments of $600 a week at the outset of the coronavirus outbreak, but those benefits expired Aug. 1 and Congress has been unable to agree on an extension. Many Republicans have expressed concern that a $600 weekly benefit, on top of existing state benefits, gives people an incentive to stay unemployed.

But under Trump's plan, the $400 a week requires a state to commit to providing $100.

https://www.startribune.com/states-on-hook-for-billions-under-trump-s-unemployment-plan/572059242/