State Department of Labor officials and officials are shaking to determine whether they can carry out President Donald Trump’s executive order to extend part of the federal unemployment benefits to millions of unemployed Americans.
Mr Trump’s order allocates $ 44 billion in federal dollars from FEMA’s Disaster Relief Fund to increase unemployment benefits and calls on states to kick in about $ 15 billion. The Trump administration says states can withdraw from federal funds for coronavirus delivery that were already distributed during the crisis, although some states have already allocated that money for other needs.
The action of the White House is expanding further unemployment benefits of $ 400 per week to recover Americans from the devastating economic impact of the pandemic. Congress had approved payments of $ 600 a week at the start of the outbreak, but those benefits expired on August 1st. And lawmakers disagree on an expansion.
Many Republicans have expressed concern that a $ 600-a-week benefit, on top of existing state benefits, will give people an incentive to stay unemployed. The White House described the $ 400 level as an appropriate compromise, and top administration officials, including Vice President Mike Pence, on Monday urged administrators in a private call to urge Democratic lawmakers to reach a deal.
But Democrats have rejected Trump’s executive order as a hollow political steer – not to mention legally dubious – that could eventually leave millions of Americans without much need for help. Several governors said their states would simply not be able to pay a quarter of the cost, even with the relief field previously approved by Congress.
That share would cost California $ 700 million a week, Govin Newsom said Monday. The state has already allocated 75% of the money that came from an earlier congressional package.
“There’s no money in the piggy bank,” Newsom said. “It just does not exist.”
When the Democrats grumbled that the executive order of Mr. Trump was out of action, top administration officials claimed he was taking action while House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D.C., and House of Representatives minority Chuck Schumer, D.C.-New York, sat on the sidelines – even though the president did not take an active role in the negotiations.
“Unconstitutional Slop”
Mr. Trump also took to Twitter on Monday to ask Sen. Ben Sasse mocked him, calling him a “RINO” – a Republican by name only – after the Nebraska Republican called Trump’s name the name of executive orders “unconstitutional slop.”
White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany, meanwhile, claimed the orders were “completely within the president’s executive capacity” and pointed to statutes she said support the legal justification for resuming funding in times of need.
Some government officials, both Democrats and Republicans, said Mr. Trump’s order could be difficult to implement for technical reasons. States will need to introduce new systems for administering the benefits, which may take a long time to accumulate, according to unemployment experts.
Some states may also not have the funding to provide 25% of the benefit, as proposed. That could see the support rise to $ 300 a week, half of the extra weekly pay workers received by the end of July through the CARES Act.
In Virginia, Secretary of Finance Aubrey Layne said the timing of the distribution of funds could be a problem. He noted that FEMA often takes several months to reimburse emergency costs due to a hurricane, but has reimbursed personal costs with related protective equipment in several weeks.
Andrew Stettner, senior fellow at The Century Foundation and an expert on unemployment assistance, said it could last several weeks for unemployed aid reporters to see the enhanced benefit seen the states’ difficulties in updating their unemployment systems.
“Nobody gets a paycheck from here in August. If they’re lucky, they get it in September,” he said.
The $ 44 billion that the Trump administration has set aside for the latest unemployment benefits would stop in five or six weeks, Stettner added.
State unemployment agencies struggled badly this spring and summer under the crutch of tens of millions of applications, and in most cases it took weeks to make the extra payment of $ 600 after it was first approved.
Keep above water
For many unemployed Americans, the enhanced benefit would have been the difference maker to keep their heads financially afloat.
“If I did not have it [the $600]”I probably could not have made it in the past two months,” said Rosa Howell-Thornhill, 62, a freelance audio technician from South Orange, New Jersey, who has been looking for job opportunities.
In Ohio, the benefit may not apply for weeks because officials are seeking guidance from the U.S. Department of Labor to implement it, said Dan Tierney, a spokesman for Gov. Mike DeWine, a Republican. Tierney said software changes may be required for the state’s computer system to compensate for unemployment.
Many states also asked if they could pay the extra $ 100 per week in the face of sharply reduced tax revenues.
McEnany told reporters that the statute requires 25% of unemployment benefits by states. Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin reiterated the 25% demand in a White House call Monday, but also sought to reassure officials that the Trump administration would find a way to cover money that states allocate to unemployment through future legislation.
“We realize that some of you want to use those funds for other things,” Mnuchin said, according to audio from the call received by The Associated Press. “And as part of legislation, if you use these funds for UI, we will agree to make you whole.”
Apply to FEMA funds
In North Carolina, officials questioned whether the sound policy was to use FEMA funds set up for natural disasters such as hurricanes and tornadoes at a time when forecasters are predicting a busy hurricane season.
“States would not be forced to choose which disaster relief agencies to help,” said Dory MacMillan, press secretary for Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper.
Democratic administrators said Mr. Trump was trying to skate over the cumbersome work of negotiating – something that allowed the president as a candidate as a natural skill of his career for real estate.
Maine Gov. Janet Mills, a Democrat, said the missions “seem to give real relief to unemployed Americans to partisan gambling, making Maine families a pawn in a cruel political game.”
In Georgia, GOP praised Gov. Brian Kemp urges Mr. Trump to take action amid the gridlock of Congress. But Kemp, an ally of Trump, did not provide details on whether Georgia state funds will contribute to the $ 400 weekly unemployment benefit.
“We are digging into that issue,” said Kemp, who said his office is in talks with Georgia’s labor department and budget planning bureau.
Roads to growth
The debate on unemployment benefits in Washington comes thanks to concerns that the pandemic could harm the economy well next year. IHS Markit on Tuesday cut its 2021 growth forecast to 3.1% from 3.7%, citing the rise in coronavirus cases in many states.
Economists warn that growth would slow further if Congress failed to pass another round of fiscal incentives, including additional unemployment assistance.
“The recovery will be at renewed risk in early 2021 if this support for revenue expires,” Joel Prakken, chief economist at IHS Markit, said in a report. “However, we expect a vaccine to become widely available by the middle of next year, allowing a more fundamental recovery period than can finally be maintained.”
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