JACKSONVILLE, Fla — Florida can’t afford to contribute to the unemployment benefits that were proposed in President Trump’s memorandum, Gov. Ron DeSantis said at a news conference Tuesday.
Trump’s memo states unemployed Americans can receive $400 weekly payments, but states need to foot 25 percent of the bill. The president said states can use CARES Act funding to cover the costs so taxpayers aren’t impacted.
“That’s not an option for us in Florida because those CARES Act dollars are obligated already,” DeSantis said.
DeSantis added that the funds haven’t been spent yet, but the funds are all planned for. The governor mentioned he has concerns about the legalities of the president’s executive actions.
“There’s only so much you can do through executive action,” DeSantis said. “We’re now at the point where presidents just do that, but I want to make sure there’s no legal risk for us if someone were to challenge this, then we’d be left on the hook.”
Instead, the governor says he’s considering increasing Florida benefits by taking out a loan with the US Department of Labor.
Florida’s current maximum benefit amount is $275 per week, which is the fifth-lowest state unemployment payment in the country. The governor hasn’t announced how much he is thinking about adding onto benefits.
The country’s average unemployment payment is about $370 per week.
State representative Anna Eskamani has been advocating to increase benefits for months now. She points out that this potential plan to borrow money for benefits is similar to how Florida reacted during the Great Recession.
“Decisions right now are Band-Aids,” said State Representative Anna Eskamani. “These are not systematic improvements.”
The state borrowed money from the US Department of Labor when its trust fund plummeted.
Former Gov. Rick Scott’s administration later made it harder for Floridians to receive unemployment benefits and reduced its duration to replenish these funds. Eskamani said it’s imperative we recover from this correctly so we don’t end up in the mess unemployed Floridians have been in for the last five months.