gov ponders benefit boost
Signals he intends to accept Trump’s unemployment plan
Unemployment benefit checks for the more than 500,000 left jobless in Massachusetts amid the coronavirus pandemic could soon be growing $400 fatter.
Gov. Charlie Baker on Tuesday signaled he intends to accept President Trump’s plan to boost unemployment benefits.
“If this program is there and it turns out to be the only thing that’s there, I don’t think Massachusetts should pass on that,” he said.
The president signed an executive order Aug. 8 to extend additional benefits of $300 or $400 per week — depending on which plan governors choose — to the unemployed after Congress failed to strike a deal to extend a federally funded $600 weekly benefit that expired in July.
Under Trump’s plan, states are required to ante up 25% of the added cost, or $100 per claimant in order to access the extra federal benefit dollars — a requirement that has confused cashstrapped states.
Baker said he would have to dip into emergency aid provided in the CARES Act to fund the unemployment extension.
Alternatively, states could count the first $100 they pay in weekly benefits to meet the requirement — which would reduce the weekly boost to claimants from $400 to $300.
Baker said he disagrees with Trump’s plan to ask FEMA to administer $44 billion from the government’s $70 billion Disaster Relief Fund — which typically pays for clean-up after extreme weather events like hurricanes and tornadoes.
“I don’t think this is the right way to do this,” Baker said Tuesday. “I worry a lot that we’re taking money from federal reimbursements for emergency services provided associated with the first four months of COVID under FEMA to fund this program,” Baker said.
New Hampshire on Tuesday became the first New England state to sign onto the plan after Gov. Chris Sununu announced his intention to apply.
Arizona, Colorado, Iowa, Louisiana, Missouri, New Mexico and Utah are the first states to receive federal approval for funding.
South Dakota is the only state so far to decline the benefit.
Speaking from the State House, Baker told reporters “we did submit a letter to the feds saying that we would apply to receive funds under that program.”
A spokesman for the governor’s office later clarified the administration has signaled to federal officials that they intend to apply to participate in the program.
It’s unclear if Trump has the constitutional authority to extend federal unemployment benefits by executive order.
‘I don’t think this is the right way to do this.’
GOV. CHARLIE BAKER on Trump’s plan to ask FEMA to administer $44B from the government’s Disaster Relief Fund