[ad_1]
New York state lawmakers on Thursday negotiated a $ 2.1 billion fund that would give unemployment benefits to illegal immigrants and former detainees – possibly offering some beneficiaries around $ 28,000.
Lawmakers and Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s office were in the process of detailing the details of the “Excluded Workers Fund,” which would be part of the now overdue 2021-2022 state budget, sources told the Post.
The proposal, presented to the Senate and Assembly two weeks ago, aims to help residents who are not eligible for federal aid, such as people living illegally in the country or those recently released from prison.
Advocates – who are pushing the fund closer to $ 3.5 billion – have pointed out that these so-called “excluded workers” have been hit hard by the pandemic but have not received COVID stimulus checks. 19 or unemployment assistance.
The proposal would have an estimated impact of 275,000 workers across the Empire State: 173,000 in New York; 187,000 undocumented immigrants; and 87,000 recently incarcerated people.
The payments would be calculated to reflect the weekly federal or state UI amounts, or about $ 500 per week.
According to a report by the Fiscal Policy Institute, beneficiaries would collect around $ 12,600 on average, assuming they were unemployed for 24 weeks from the start of the pandemic in March 2020.
“The maximum benefit that any person could receive, if they were unemployed for the entire period covered, would be $ 28,600 for the first year of the pandemic, from March 2020 to March 2021, and $ 17,500 from April to December 2021 ”, the organization concluded.
Opponents argue the plan is financially irresponsible at a time when the state is hemorrhaging financially from the pandemic.
“This scandalous plan is the latest in a long line of misplaced state government priorities,” Republican Senator Daphne Jordan said in a statement on Wednesday.
Jordan, who represents parts of the Hudson Valley and the Capital Region, added, “It makes no sense to send billions of taxpayer dollars to illegal immigrants and convicted criminals. “
Ongoing discussions over the fund involve requests from Cuomo’s office that people provide documents about their work and unemployment history in order to qualify, sources say.
But supporters, including Democratic State Senator Jessica Ramos of Queens, argue that it would be difficult to get these documents because employers would likely not tell the government they have already hired undocumented workers, the sources said.
“We fought for wide-ranging eligibility,” Ramos told the Post of the negotiations on Thursday.
“We want to make sure that we include as many neighbors as possible, because too many neighbors have been excluded from financial assistance programs like unemployment insurance.”
The talks took place as Cuomo and lawmakers continued to work out the final details of the state’s massive $ 200 billion spending proposal for the next fiscal year – after Albany missed the deadline for the government. April 1st.
Dozens of “excluded workers” have reportedly been on hunger strike over the past 17 days to lobby for the fund – leaving advocates to pressure over budget delays.
“Every day that goes by without a budget decision is another day that jeopardizes the safety of hunger striking workers and the economic security of hundreds of thousands of excluded workers,” the Fund Excluded Workers Coalition said in a statement. .
New York Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez said Thursday that she supported the “brave workers” who were fasting.
[ad_2]
Source link