Amid a once-in-a-generation crisis, Republican-led states are pulling out all stops to abandon their responsibility to unemployed workers and their families. These states have decided to roll back emergency pandemic unemployment payments, which are fully funded by the federal government. Their misguided actions will hurt workers, families, and the nation’s recovery, and will exacerbate existing racial, gender, and class inequities.
After news broke that a growing list of governors want to deny pandemic unemployment payments to jobless workers, my colleagues and I sent an urgent letter to the U.S. Labor Department, pointing out that even if states decide to opt out of the program, the federal government is obligated to pay the benefits to workers who qualify for aid. Failure to do so would not only harm our most vulnerable, it would be in direct violation of the department’s duty to provide these benefits under federal law.
For the tens of millions of workers who have been unable to work because their jobs disappeared, or because of family obligations, health care concerns, or unsafe workplaces, these benefits have helped them stay afloat.
Workers and fellow advocates fought fiercely for this critical aid. They fought again for these benefits to be available until September, affording millions of families the time and stability necessary to chart a path out of pandemic life and back to employment.
States abruptly ending participation in the fully-federally-funded pandemic unemployment programs is nothing short of cruel, not to mention ill-informed. Economists maintain that $1 of jobless aid generates $1.61 in the local economy, which boosts spending, saves jobs, and prevents evictions. Robbing people of this economic lifeline does nothing to stimulate the economy. It holds all of us back.
If the last year taught us anything, it’s that we are interdependent for our collective financial, physical, and emotional well-being.
Rebuilding our economy so it’s resilient and works for everyone means putting Black, Latinx, Indigenous, and immigrant workers — who have faced more job loss and worse health outcomes than their white counterparts due to structural racism — at the center of our recovery. Same for women, who have had to exit the workforce in droves to handle caregiving and schooling obligations for their children.
In South Carolina, Republican Gov. Henry McMaster’s move to end federally funded resources unfairly burdens Black workers. The statewide unemployment rate for white workers is 3.8 percent compared to 6.3 percent for Black workers. Ending this economic lifeline would leave approximately 166,000 people stranded and deprive their communities of more than $891 million.
In Montana, although the statewide unemployment rate is 3.8 percent, the indigenous unemployment rate remains as high as 13.3 percent in some tribes. High unemployment…