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- Indiana resumed paying federal unemployment benefits in the event of a pandemic on Friday.
- Payments, which ceased June 19, will be retroactive to the week ending June 26.
- Maryland was recently ordered to continue with its additional federal unemployment payments.
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Indiana resumed paying pandemic unemployment benefits on Friday, including the improved weekly federal supplement of $ 300, after the state Court of Appeals denied the state’s attempt to continue to suspend disbursements, according to The Indianapolis Star.
Since the programs restarted, the Indiana Department of Workforce Development has already paid 25,000 people, and more than 100,000 Hoosiers are expected to file for benefits, according to the Star.
Payments, which ceased June 19, will be retroactive to the week ending June 26.
“There will be no gap in payments for eligible claimants,” said Regina Ashley, head of unemployment insurance at the ministry.
Republican Gov. Eric Holcomb initially halted enhanced federal payments in June, citing the need for unemployed residents to re-enter the workforce.
Holcomb was one of 26 heads of state who said they would end at least one of three pandemic unemployment insurance programs that Congress passed last year at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic and prolonged since then.
Read more: Exclusive documents show which Pence assistants are still receiving government paychecks
The governor’s action sparked a lawsuit against the unemployed in mid-June, who argued that state law requires officials to seek all relevant federal insurance benefits for residents.
Federal programs that have been enacted into law also include benefits for self-employed workers and independent contractors who may have exhausted their state unemployment benefits.
A group of unemployed residents in states that include Ohio and Texas have also filed lawsuits to restore federal benefits. A similar lawsuit is expected in Florida early next week.
In Maryland, Republican Gov. Larry Hogan sought to end federal benefits earlier, but a Baltimore Circuit Court judge this week ruled that unemployed residents of the state should continue to receive federal benefits .
Hogan’s office said that while he “fundamentally disagrees” with the ruling, he will not appeal the ruling, meaning the benefits will likely continue until early September.
The $ 300 weekly additional benefit, which was part of the $ 1.9 trillion COVID-19 stimulus package signed by President Joe Biden, is set to expire in September.
Republicans have long insisted that increased aid deterred people from returning to the workforce, criticizing its effect on job creators. Most Democratic-led states have embraced aid, calling it a much-needed resource for the unemployed as the country aims to recover from the coronavirus pandemic.
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