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By Jim Turner/News Service of Florida
May 24, 2021
TALLAHASSEE - Florida plans to stop providing $300 a week in additional federal unemployment benefits as it pushes for people to return to work during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Florida Department of Economic Opportunity announced Monday that starting June 26 the state will no longer participate in the Federal Pandemic Unemployment Compensation program. State and business officials have argued that, when added to state unemployment payments, the $300 a week in federal aid is keeping people from returning to jobs.
After a report Friday showed that an estimated 487,000 Floridians were unemployed in April out of a workforce of 10.24 million, the Department of Economic Opportunity called Monday’s move “another key step to returning more Floridians to work,” dubbing it the “Return to Work” initiative.
Rolling Stone GOP Governors Compete to Make Life Worse for the Unemployed
“It’s sad that the state prioritizes taking benefits away versus getting them to people in need,” said Florida Democratic Rep. Anna Eskamani
By AP
Florida Governor Ron DeSantis joined the growing list of Republican governors who plan to block the federal boost to unemployment benefits for those who’ve lost their jobs in the pandemic.
With little proof, at least 23 GOP governors have said the additional $300 in weekly benefits disincentivizes people from going back to work. And instead of waiting until September when the Federal Pandemic Unemployment Compensation program is scheduled to end, they’ve decided to deny their citizens the 100-percent federally funded benefits in June the earliest date states are allowed to leave the program.