JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Governor Ron DeSantis indicated the state will not create a return to work incentive program after discontinuing Federal Pandemic Unemployment Compensation payments.
The Governor made the decision Monday to cut the $300 weekly FPUC payments, setting an expiration date of June 26.
DeSantis previewed the possible decision at a news conference May 12.
“I would much rather pay a workforce transition payment, to incentivize people to go back to work, than continue with the unemployment if we have all these job openings,” DeSantis said at the news conference May 12. “I think that would change some of the incentive structure that we’re seeing and would still make it worth people’s while.”
Since DeSantis discontinued FPUC, there has been no word of workforce transition payments.
First Coast News asked DeSantis if these payments are expected in the future at a press conference Wednesday.
“That is not something the legislature received favorably,” DeSantis answered. “And that’s understandable. Their view was, wait a minute, we just got hundreds of thousands of people back to work. And they thought it was unfair to do that.”
Many Floridians are in for a rude awakening come June 26 when those payments are flushed.
Florida is one of more than 20 states that decided to discontinue the FPUC payments, but Florida’s maximum weekly benefit amount is vastly lower than many of those states.
For example, North Dakota has a max payment of $618 per week for claimants.
Florida’s maximum benefits are some of the lowest in the country at $275, and many claimants don’t qualify for that much.
Even without the $300 payments some states will still be surviving on benefits that about double Florida’s.