48 States Approved for Trumps Unemployment Plan

Forty-eight states have been approved for President Donald Trumps enhanced unemployment payments.

Despite grumbling over details of the plan by governors across the United States, every state but one applied for the enhanced payments.

Officials in Nebraska and Nevada—the remaining holdouts—announced last week they were applying for the new program created through Trumps Aug. 8 executive order, called the Lost Wages Supplemental Payment Assistance program.

Continuing a trend of complaining about the program while applying for it, Nebraska Labor Commissioner John Albin said in a statement that it “provides very limited benefits to a portion of Nebraskas unemployment recipients and has an uncertain end date.”

Nevada Gov. Steve Sisolak, a Democrat, initially said his administration was analyzing the potential cost of the program. The state Department of Employment, Training, and Rehabilitation submitted its application on Sept. 2.

The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) approved Nevadas application on Sept. 9, leaving Nebraska as the only state thats applied for the funding not to be approved. The approval is expected to come this week.

FEMA also recently approved applications from Guam and Washington D.C.

Congress approved a $600 weekly boost to unemployment, completely paid for by the federal government, in March, but the program expired in July.

Republicans have sought to pass a narrow bill that would restart the program but have been blocked by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), who wants a larger package that includes aid for states. The Republican-controlled Senate planned on voting for a bill Thursday that would include a $300 per week enhanced unemployment payment.

Trump took action last month amid the congressional stalemate.

“Congressional Democrats have stonewalled our efforts to extend this relief. They even opposed measures that would give bonuses to workers returning to the job. They were totally opposed to that,” Trump told reporters in New Jersey, where he signed four executive orders.

“For this reason, Im taking action to provide an additional or an extra $400 per week in expanded benefits. $400, okay? Thats generous, but we want to take care of people.”

The Epoch Times

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