Trump’s plan separates disbursement funds from the Federal Emergency Management Agency to pay for the new benefit, which is different from the now-expired $ 600 weekly federal incentive approved by Congress this past March. Because the money comes from another pool, it is subject to different rules – and it needs its own process.
“It would have to be made from scratch and run in parallel with Pennsylvania’s existing unemployment benefit programs,” said Penny Ickes, the communications director for the Pennsylvania Department of Labor and Industry, in a statement sent to CNN.
“This is not something that any state can do quickly,” she added.
Qualification rules also changed during the executive action. It excludes people who receive less than $ 100 a week from their existing unemployment benefits. It also supplies only half of what unemployed Americans have received.
Trump administration officials have said states can get the new system up and running within two weeks, but some experts are skeptical.
“I do not think anyone will see this money in August,” said Andrew Stettner, a senior fellow at The Century Foundation, a progressive think tank.
A limited pool money
Trump’s executive action added $ 44 billion to the new unemployment benefit, an amount that could take just six weeks if all states participate in the program given how many people stay out of work thanks to the pandemic.
Initially, the Trump administration said states were required to chip in 25% of the new $ 400-a-week benefit. Many states, even with budget deficits, say they cannot afford the money. The National Governors’ Association said states would “bear significant administrative burdens and costs.”
States are still seeking further clarification on what is needed from them and how the program should be implemented.
“Once we get confirmation of what Mississippi as a state will need to do, we will make it public,” a State Department of Employment Security spokeswoman said on Wednesday.
Mike DeWine, Ohio Republican, told a news conference Tuesday that if the $ 300 is the administration’s final proposal, “then we want to get that money out of the people as soon as possible.”
A spokeswoman for the Ohio Department of Jobs and Family Services did not respond to a CNN request asking how long that would take.
States took weeks to set up the first round of programs
That program was in many ways fairer than states will have to stand up for the ultimate benefit, said Indivar Dutta-Gupta, a professor of law and co-executive director at the Georgetown Center on Poverty and Unequality.
“The thought of them doing it in two weeks is somewhat unbelievable,” he said, noting that some states could pay the new benefit to people as one lump sum.
Pandemy Vs. hurricane
Adhering to Trump’s new system is the risk of taking money away from FEMA that is destined for other types of disasters.
“We are going into what is predicted to be a fairly active hurricane season. This can have serious consequences as a rule,” said Isabel Soto, the labor market policy analyst at the American Action Forum.
CNN’s Rebekah Riess contributed reporting.
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