Backs Trump
Kentucky governor calls White House plan “unworkable”
Elise Stefanik said she backs the president’s efforts on unemployment.
President Donald Trump’s executive order to extend federal unemployment benefits, but have states pick up part of the tab, would cost New York $4 billion and take weeks to implement, Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo said Monday.
With the state already facing a $13 billion deficit this year — which is expected to nearly triple over the next four years — Cuomo likened the executive order to “handing a drowning man an anchor.” He also blasted the change as “unrealistic” and possibly illegal.
“This only makes a bad situation worse,” Cuomo said during a press conference.
Gov. Andy Beshear of Kentucky, a Democrat from a red state, joined Cuomo for the news conference and agreed that the executive order is “unworkable” and too expensive and time consuming for Kentucky to implement.
Both governors called for a congressional solution, but Republicans and Democrats remain locked in a stalemate over the next coronavirus stimulus package even after weeks of steady negotiations.
Amid the gridlock, Trump on Saturday signed four executive orders aimed at providing some pandemic relief. He announced he was postponing payroll taxes through the end of the year, waiving student debt payments until 2021 and considering a continued ban on evictions and more rent relief.
His memorandum would extend but cap the federal unemployment benefit at $400 a week—down from $600 per week — but require states to cover a quarter of the cost. Trump said the federal government could afford its portion of the payments using existing federal funds for more than a month.
Beshear said the state burden of that could cost Kentucky $48 to $60 million a month, or up to $1.5 billion, depending on how long it continues, “something that is just not possible for the commonwealth of Kentucky.” With a state unemployment system that is 20 years old, it would take weeks or even months to also start dolling out payments in the new structure, he said.
When asked on Sunday about states that could not afford their portion of the payments, Trump said: “It will depend on the states. ... It may be they pay nothing.”
Earlier in the pandemic, the then-$600 per week unemployment benefit was paid for by the federal government and given out on top of state unemployment benefits. But that federal benefit expired July 31. The governors have urged Congress to reinstate it, if possible.
But reaching a new deal on unemployment has been one of the thorniest problems for Democrats and Republicans. Democrats want to continue the benefit at $600 a week, while Republicans have proposed $200 and then 70 percent of each individuals’ lost wages.
The divide has been, in part, driven by complaints from business owners, especially small business owners, that some employees said they were collecting more income from unemployment than they had been paid in their jobs and were reluctant to return to work as the economy reopened.
Trump’s executive orders could face legal challenges because they tinker with congressional spending plans.
In their negotiations, Democrats and Republicans also have not reached a final number on how much aid to provide state and local governments, although both sides have agreed billions in relief is needed. Cuomo has warned that without sufficient federal aid, the state will be forced to implement drastic budget cuts, including to education.
“They want to bailout states that have been badly managed by Democrats, badly run by Democrats for many years — and, in fact, in all cases, many decades,” Trump said Saturday. “And we’re not willing to do that.”