$300 unemployment benefit: which states still keep payments? In a handful of states where the governor hasn’t ended federal unemployment benefits early there are calls from lawmakers for such steps to be taken. NICK OXFORD REUTERS Citing labor shortages due to overly generous unemployment compensation, the governors of more than two dozen states have ended or will end at least one or all of the federal unemployment insurance programs early, nearly all Republican led. In a handful of other states with Democrat governors but Republican-controlled legislatures, Republican lawmakers are pushing to end the $300 weekly unemployment booster. States are taking different approaches to encourage their residents to go back to work as the economy reopens. Four of the states that are ending participation in the federal programs have