Florida: We can’t afford Trump’s jobless aid anymore – By Gary Fineout (Politico) / Sept 17 2020
TALLAHASSEE — Florida‘s Republican governor will end a Trump program to boost unemployment benefits to out-of-work Americans because the state’s bare-bones jobless program is too poor to continue qualifying for the federal boost.
© AP Photo/Chris O’Meara Residents drive up to pick up unemployment paperwork in Tampa.
Gov. Ron DeSantis, an ally of President Donald Trump, is scrapping the extra $300 in weekly benefits because the state pays its unemployed workers too little to meet a 25 percent matching requirement. Florida appears to be the first state in the nation to halt the program because of its cost.
The move comes eight weeks before Election Day, as Trump is counting on his adopted home state to win a second term. If Trump loses Florida, his pathway to reelection could be difficult or impossible.
Republican and Democratic state legislators were surprised by the DeSantis decision, which was revealed without fanfare late Monday. Hundreds of thousands of unemployed residents remain in desperate need of financial help due to the coronavirus pandemic and ensuing economic shutdown, and more than 3 million people in Florida have applied for some form of state or federal unemployment help since mid-March.
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