A judge in Maryland issued a temporary restraining order on Saturday morning requiring the state to continue paying the benefits that were set to end that day.
In addition to the $300 weekly supplement, the federal programs provide benefits to freelancers, the self-employed, independent contractors and certain people affected by the coronavirus and to those who have exhausted their regular state benefits.
Some 4.1 million Americans will be affected, according to The Century Foundation.
Terminating the benefits early will make it harder for the unemployed to afford basic needs, including housing and health care, at a time when many are still struggling to find work. More than 300,000 Maryland residents will be affected by the cessation of the programs, with 85% of them losing all their benefits, according to one of the lawyers.
Hogan’s attorney countered that the governor was balancing the needs of employers, workers and all Maryland residents at a time when the economy is reopening and that the statute does not require him to accept the federal benefits.
In his temporary restraining order, Baltimore City Circuit Court Judge Lawrence Fletcher-Hill directed state officials to rescind their notice to the US Department of Labor terminating the pandemic benefits and take all action necessary to continue the payments.
“At this preliminary stage, the court concludes that plaintiffs have shown a likelihood that they will succeed in establishing that the ‘fullest extent’ provision requires the secretary of labor, without discretion, to draw available benefits from the federal government if providing them to Maryland residents is consistent with the Maryland unemployment benefit system,” Fletcher-Hill wrote.
Maryland will appeal the ruling, said Mike Ricci, Hogan’s…
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