Some states may pay nothing for the unemployment plan outlined in executive orders over the weekend, President Donald Trump told reporters on Sunday.
“It will depend on the states,” Trump said, adding, “It may be they pay nothing.”
One order extends enhanced unemployment benefits but states are required to pay 25 percent of the cost.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) said on “Fox News Sunday” that “states dont have the money do that.”
“They have expenses from the coronavirus. They have lost revenue from shelter-in-place and the fact that people are not being able to go out and spend money, inject demand into the economy, as they would normally,” she said.
Trump, speaking outside his golf club in Bedminster, N.J., told reporters that each state will submit an application and he will be personally involved in the matter.
“We have a system where we can do 100 percent or we can do 75 percent, they pay 25, and it will depend on the state, and they will make an application. We will look at it, and well make a decision,” he said.
“So you know, they may be, theyll pay nothing in some instances or maybe theyll—a little bit like the National Guard, like the National Guard, as you know. Sometimes well pay all of it depending on the tragedy, or whatever it may be, the disaster. Sometimes the state will pay 40 percent, 25 percent, 10 percent or nothing—depending on how it works out.”
Trump signed the orders on Saturday. He said that states would be asked to cover a quarter of the cost of the enhanced unemployment benefit.
States would use “existing funding, such as the tens of billions of dollars available to them through the Coronavirus Relief Fund,” Trump said.
“Under this plan, states will be able to offer greater benefits if they so choose, and the federal government will cover 75 percent of the cost,” he added.
The executive action came after congressional leaders failed to reach a deal on unemployment benefits and a new stimulus package in general.
Democrats wanted to authorize $3 trillion moRead More From Source
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