Thread by @AnnaForFlorida

I want to make sure folks understand the current state of affairs as it pertains to unemployment benefits in Florida. This article offers a good review, and we'll dive deeper into it via this thread. 1/
tampabay.com/news/health/20…

As we all know, Congress was unable to strike a deal for a 4th major relief package, meaning that FPUC $600 weekly payments expired by July 25, with no renewal plan in place. We all know in Florid how bad this is for us, since our weekly benefit amount is capped at $275. 2/

Over the weekend @realDonaldTrump signed different Executive Orders pertaining to unemployment and other issues. These EOs seem more like political stunts and are potentially not legal.

One of them was to create a $400 weekly payment for the unemployed. 3/

This $400 is only available to states who join the US Department of Labor in an agreement where 25% of the cost is covered by the state. So state pays $100 & federal government via FEMA pays $300. This 25% requirement is based on disaster relief rules under the Stafford Act 4/

But the Labor Department is giving states some significant wiggle room so they don’t have to part with any cash they weren’t going to previously: They can simply count $100 of regular state unemployment benefits as their 25 percent matching share. 5/

More here.

Of course, if a Floridian is receiving less than $100 per week via their unemployment, I doubt they would see the $300. I also assume this wiggle room only pertains Regular UC claimants. It's not really a viable option for FL. 6/
rollcall.com/2020/08/10/why…

Yesterday @GovRonDeSantis said we can't afford this $400 plan from Trump. He said all CARES Act $$ is already being spent on something else, & instead FL will look towards taking out a loan from the US Department of Labor to increase weekly benefit amounts. 7/

He did not say what that new amount would be. Keep in mind this loan would have to cover Regular UC/PEUC claimants and PUA claimants. It's a lot of people, and a lot of money. 8/

At this point we're still waiting to see what happens next, and I would prefer a SPECIAL SESSION so legislators can actually make decisions on the budget and unemployment versus the Governor continuing to operate unilaterally. 9/

We'll keep pushing for folks still waiting to get paid, to get paid and will advocate for a Weekly Benefit amount that is at LEAST $600 in total-- at this rate, even increasing our Weekly Benefit Amount to $400 won't be enough for people to survive off. We need more. 10/