Fight continues over $300 jobless benefits
Ohioans hoping to restore $300 per week in federal COVID-19 unemployment benefits are bringing their case to an Ohio appeals court today.
In May, Gov. Mike Dewine announced he would cut off an additional $300 per week in unemployment benefits that Congress approved in March 2020 to assist with joblessness caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Republican governor argued that Ohio’s unemployment rate had dropped and the benefits were no longer needed. Employers struggling to hire enough workers backed the decision.
But several Ohioans receiving those benefits filed a lawsuit to restore them, arguing that Dewine did not have the authority to block the federal payments that are set to expire on Labor Day.
However, Franklin County Common Pleas Court Judge Michael Holbrook ruled against them.
Holbrook, a Republican, wrote that he was aware of, and sympathetic to, Ohioans in desperate need of financial help but Dewine had the power to stop the benefits.
They appealed the case to the 10th Ohio District Court of Appeals in Columbus, which is reviewing the case and could issue a ruling within days.
Will payments hurt businesses or help jobless?
Several other organizations have weighed in.
Ohio Grocers Association, Ohio Hotel and Lodging Association, Ohio Restau
“The decision (to halt payments) runs counter to the public interest and creates economic harm for thousands of Ohioans.” According to a legal brief
rant Association, Ohio Business Roundtable, Ohio Chamber of Commerce, National Federation of Independent Business and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce all back Dewine’s position.
“It is clear that Ohio businesses – and in turn, Ohio’s economy – will suffer unjustifiable harm if the requested injunction is issued,” they wrote in a legal brief.
Arguing on the other side is liberalleaning think tank Policy Matters Ohio, the American Sustainable Business Council and National Employment Law Project.
They say Ohio businesses have a hiring problem because of poor access to childcare, low wages offered and concerns about the continuing pandemic – not because federal officials chipped in an additional $300 a week.
“The decision (to halt payments) runs counter to the public interest and creates economic harm for thousands of Ohioans,” they wrote.
Jessie Balmert is a reporter for the USA TODAY Network Ohio Bureau, which serves the Akron Beacon Journal, Cincinnati Enquirer, Columbus Dispatch and 18 other affiliated news organizations across Ohio.