More than 1.2 million Americans will lose pandemic unemployment benefits early
“These changes have the potential to drastically scale back assistance to jobless workers far too early in the recovery,” said Andrew Stettner, senior fellow at The Century Foundation, who calculated how many people would be affected. “Nationally, there are still 16.8 million workers on one of the unemployment programs, and the nation is still short 8 million-plus jobs from the start of the pandemic.”
Democrats recently extended the pandemic unemployment programs until early September as part of their $1.9 trillion coronavirus rescue package.
Montana last week was the first to announce it was pulling out of the federal program, citing severe worker shortages. The announcement was followed by South Carolina, Arkansas, Alabama, Mississippi, North Dakota, Missouri, Iowa, Idaho, Tennessee, Wyoming, South Dakota and Utah. Other red states are likely to follow.
Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp announced on Fox News Thursday morning that he would cease the $300 federal payments in mid- to late-June.
“Thanks to our measured reopening, Georgia’s unemployment rate is well below the national average,” he tweeted. “Now it is time for Georgians to get back to work so we can fully return to normal in the Peach State!”
Democrats and workers, however, argue that millions of people remain out of work and cannot return easily because their children are still learning remotely or they remain concerned about the coronavirus.
