Ruling on unemployment benefits a setback to Ohio economy
Posted July 30, 2021 in Press Releases
Thousands now won’t have support they badly need
Franklin County Common Pleas Court Judge Michael J. Holbrook ruled late Thursday against three unemployed Ohioans and refused to reinstate the $300 in federal weekly supplemental unemployment benefits that Gov. Mike DeWine ended on June 26. He declined to issue a preliminary injunction that would have brought the benefits, known as Federal Pandemic Unemployment Compensation (FPUC), back through Sept. 4. Policy Matters Ohio Research Director Zach Schiller issued the following statement on the decision:
“Pandemic Unemployment Compensation helped millions of Americans make ends meet, keep food on the table and stay in their homes during the health and economic crisis. Judge Holbrook’s decision is a setback for hundreds of thousands of unemployed Ohioans and the Ohio economy. Businesses that might have seen purchases now won’t get them, slowing the economic recovery.
“Despite his ruling, the judge found Governor DeWine’s decision to terminate Pandemic Unemployment Compensation caused ‘significant and irreparable injury’ to the plaintiffs and to ‘argue otherwise is disingenuous.’ Indeed it is. All the more reason to support the plaintiffs in their appeal. And also to back a national overhaul of the unemployment compensation system so that jobless workers in future get the benefits they so badly need.”
See our comment on DeWine's decision to prematurely end PUC for Ohioans.
See our blog, DeWine takes income from unemployed Ohioans, gives to business owners.