Trump’s solo attempt on stimulus falling short

Arizona is the only state that has started new relief payouts.

WASHINGTON — Just two weeks after President Donald Trump approved executive actions aimed at bypassing stalled stimulus negotiations with Congress, only one state has said it is paying new jobless benefits, few evictions have been stalled, and leading employers have made clear workers will not benefit from the president’s new payroll tax deferral.

After talks with Congressional Democrats faltered, the president on Aug. 8 signed four executive actions aimed at staving off further economic turmoil. Trump’s actions included a $300 per week benefit for jobless Americans, after the previous enhanced jobless benefits expired in late July. He also directed a deferral in payroll taxes, as well as a move aimed at halting evictions and suspending student loan payments.

But Trump’s directive aimed at helping unemployed workers has so far produced limited economic relief to Americans hurt by the coronavirus pandemic, despite promises by top White House aides it would happen within weeks. By Friday, only Arizona had started sending money to its residents.

Thirteen states have been approved to give the extra $300 in payments and some, including Montana and Kentucky, will kick in an $100 match, meaning Americans out of work there could get up to $400 in enhanced payments. Many other states have either said they’re applying or have not said whether they will move forward and offer the payments. South Dakota and Mississippi have turned down the jobless benefits.

For the majority of the 28 million unemployed workers who had been getting an extra $600 a week, relief remains elusive. And just last week, jobless benefit claims rose slightly compared to previous week, to above 1 million. It’s the 21st week that claims for unemployment benefits have topped a million during the pandemic.

“I don’t know when my next paycheck will come, unemployment has not been helpful, and I’m not sure when the furlough will end. It’s extremely stressful,” said Caleb Dunlop, 28, who lost his job in college athletics in western Washington State on July 1. Dunlop had $9 in his bank account after paying rent and utilities last month, and missed payments for his medication for treating chronic depression.

Trump and his economic team have repeatedly suggested their executive actions largely render talks with Congress unnecessary, with Trump saying they would “take care of pretty much this entire situation.” White House National Economic Council Director Larry Kudlow boasted the orders had led to a dramatic increase in the stock market, while Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said the new unemployment payments would arrive “immediately.”

The next day, Mnuchin said the payments would arrive “within the next week or two.” Kudlow also said at the time that the benefits would take “about two weeks” to be paid out.

The administration’s assessment of the timing of the benefits has almost certainly proven too optimistic. So far, only Arizona had reported sending an extra $300 week on top of traditional state unemployment benefits, according to Michele Evermore, an unemployment expert at the National Employment Law Project, a nonprofit.

Numerous governors have complained that the program is too complicated and could take several additional weeks to set up. The White House also stipulated that people receiving less than $100 per week in unemployment benefits from their state are not eligible for the extra $300, which will effectively prevent as many as 1 million jobless Americans from receiving the benefit. And guidance from FEMA suggested the extra benefit would only last three weeks.

About 20 states so far have said publicly they will apply for the program. Most are expected to need anywhere between “at least a few additional weeks to a couple additional months” to get the money out, said Evermore, who has been in regular contact with state unemployment officials. Some states may not be able to get the new payments out until the end of September, Evermore said.

Exacerbating the delays are a series of financial and technical challenges, requiring states to update unemployment computer systems, that are in some cases decadesold, to get the new federal benefits out to their residents. Similar upgrades kept Americans from receiving their jobless aid for weeks or months in some cases, earlier in the pandemic, as labor officials struggled to implement the new programs authorized under the $2 trillion Cares Act.

State unemployment officials have said that it would be easier if Congress adopted a new coronavirus aid package rather than piecemeal fixes that require constant computer fixes. There appears to be little chance of that happening soon. The White House and Congressional Democrats have not restarted meaningful negotiations since Trump’s executive action, and Congressional aides do not expect talks to resume until after Labor Day. Many economic experts say the absence of a deal with Congress is sharply limiting the recovery, and is hurting unemployed Americans, given the administration’s challenges implementing the new jobless benefits.

White House officials say they acted rapidly to help the unemployed, without ceding to Democrats’ demand to provide up to $1 trillion aid to states, cities, and tribal governments, which they have called a bailout to blue states that mismanaged budgets. Mnuchin said this week that the White House was not willing to go along with Democrats “unreasonable” demands.

ANDREW HARNIK / ASSOCIATED PRESS Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said new unemployment payments would arrive “immediately,” then later, “within the next week or two.”