Ducey: Extra $300 in unemployment benefits will end
Gov. Doug Ducey on Thursday said he will end the $300 supplement to jobless benefits that were put in place because of the pandemic, effective July 10.
That will leave thousands of Arizonans collecting a maximum $240 a week in benefits.
Ducey said Arizona would set aside $300 million in federal money to offer a one-time bonus of $2,000 to people who get a full-time job, while those who return part
time will receive $1,000.
Several states already have announced ending the additional federal benefits that were authorized because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Those other states are Alabama, Arkansas, Iowa, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, North Dakota, South Carolina and Tennessee.
The supplement is available until the week ending Sept. 4 for states that want to continue to participate.
Arizonans can get a maximum of $240 a week in traditional unemployment benefits without the supplement.
When the pandemic hit last year, Congress approved additional funding on top of the state payments, which is called “federal pandemic unemployment compensation,” or FPUC.
Congress also approved a new program called “pandemic unemployment assistance,” or PUA, to pay an equivalent amount of benefits to people who would not normally qualify for unemployment.
Both FPUC and PUA were extended in March as part of the American Rescue Plan Act, and people getting regular unemployment benefits or PUA in Arizona can qualify for the maximum $240, plus $300 in additional federal compensation.
Ducey also announced Thursday the state will provide three months of child care assistance for people on unemployment who have children and who return to the workforce.
The state is setting aside $30 million for those benefits, which vary depending on the age of the children. The state Department of Economic Security already offers such child care assistance, but only to certain low-income workers. This program widens the eligibility to those returning to work and earning $25 an hour or less.
The state also will provide $7.5 million for community college scholarships for unemployed workers eligible for the bonuses, and $6 million for GED test preparation and exam fees for eligible workers without a high school diploma.
Using federal money
‘to encourage people to work’
The current unemployment rules allow people to collect benefits for 50 weeks, longer than the usual 26 weeks of unemployment Arizona allowed before the pandemic.
But Ducey said the supplement is being cut to get people back to work.
“In Arizona, we’re going to use federal money to encourage people to work … instead of paying people not to work,”
Ducey said in a prepared statement.
“With ample supplies of the COVID-19 vaccine on hand and millions of Arizonans vaccinated, people feel safer and are finally returning to life in Arizona as we knew and loved it before,” Ducey continued. “People are back in the office, restaurants are at full capacity and tourists are flocking to our state.”
Ducey cited the trouble some employers are having finding workers, and said that jobless benefits should not be a barrier to restarting the workforce.
The hospitality industry is particularly troubled by the inability to hire back workers who were laid off or furloughed last year as the pandemic shut down most leisure travel.
Some of those workers are reluctant to return because of the expanded jobless benefits, while others have found better jobs and still others can’t return to work because they have young children at home learning remotely.
About 200,000 Arizonans were collecting regular unemployment and PUA benefits the week of May 8, and the state saw about 7,400 new claims for benefits, according to the state dashboard.
To get the bonuses the governor announced, people will have to leave the unemployment program and work at least 10 weeks at a new job. It will be offered on a first-come basis.
Only those who have already filed for jobless benefits can get the bonus (so nobody can quit a job today, file for benefits, get rehired and collect the bonus).
The bonuses will only be paid to people who earn $25 an hour or less. They must begin working in the new job by Sept. 6.
That earning threshold also is set for the child care benefits the governor announced.
Last month, Ducey also reinstated the requirement that people seeking benefits also look for a job.
Things that qualify for searching for work include:
Registering with and contacting a union hiring or placement facility.
Registering with a placement facility of a professional organization.
Checking back with former employers who may have openings.
Registering with a placement facility at a school, college or university for work.
Taking a test for or applying for openings in civil service or a government agency.
Registering for suitable work with a private employment agency or an employer’s placement facility.