With unemployment benefits set to expire on Friday, some states are growing impatient with Congress’s delay in passing another coronavirus stimulus package.
California lawmakers are considering their own solution by providing a supplemental unemployment benefit of up to $600 per week, the Los Angeles Times reported Tuesday.
“There are so many people who are relying on that money to pay rent, to buy food,” said Assemblyman Phil Ting. “I think the state has to do everything possible to help them pay their bills.”
The debate comes as Congress and the White House struggle to reach a deal on the next round of aid and how to extend unemployment benefits.
Republicans have pushed to reduce unemployment claims from $600 per week to $200 in order to deter people from staying on government benefits if they are earning more than they would at their place of employment. House Democrats are expected to dispute this move, and Speaker Nancy Pelosi said she won’t accept a bill that’s not complete after the White House floated an idea to pass a partial extension on benefits.
California’s proposed benefit extension would come from a borrowed federal trust fund that’s already been covering the state’s cost of paying unemployment benefits that surged in demand after the COVID-19 outbreak began earlier this year.
Gov. Gavin Newsom has not commented on the matter but said he hopes Pelosi will be able to get something passed that will aid unemployed Californians.
“I have deep confidence in her capacity to pull something off important, to pull something off that directly addresses the issue not just of unemployment insurance, but of getting checks in the pockets of those who have been impacted by COVID-19,” he said.
