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Ohio Won’t Ante Up for Trump’s Unemployment Insurance Plan

Trump’s Unemployment Order Is Unfeasible for States, Cuomo Says

Ohio has no plans to spend money President Donald Trump wants as a state match for extended unemployment insurance, a spokesman for its Republican governor said Monday.

Congressional negotiations for a massive relief bill are stalled and Trump’s plan, one of several measures intended to bypass lawmakers, would require that states pay $100 of a weekly $400 benefit. That would be a burden for budgets already gutted by plunging revenue and new expenses.

In Ohio, a method of implementing the state’s portion would require more vetting, not to mention an act by the General Assembly, said Dan Tierney, a spokesman for Governor Mike DeWine. In any event, the state received guidance last night from the U.S. Labor Department that Ohio wouldn’t be required to provide its share, Tierney said. He said, however, that the state would expedite the federal money to jobless residents.

Ohio, whose governor has been an independent actor throughout the Covid pandemic and accompanying downturn, is among the first states to spurn Trump. The president has suggested the match could be waived for some states, but has provided few details.

Conor Cahill, press secretary for Colorado Governor Jared Polis, said the state would cover its share, “but without new federal aid it is unlikely that Colorado can find the money to keep this up for more than a few weeks.”

The president’s plan to have states shoulder a quarter of the burden of extended unemployment insurance is unaffordable and unworkable, said Andrew Cuomo, the new chairman of the National Governors Association.

Cuomo, Democratic leader of New York, said he has spoken with governors in states across the country that are facing yawning deficits as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic and the accompanying economic downturn.

“This originally started as more of a blue state problem when Covid began,” Cuomo said Monday on a conference call with reporters. “That’s no longer true.”

“States have expended a lot of money to deal with Covid,” he said. “They have serious financial issues.”

Governor Gavin Newsom, a Democrat, said Monday that the cost of California’s share would be too heavy.

“The state does no have an identified resource of $700 million per week that we haven’t already obliged. There is no money sitting in the piggy bank,” he said. “It simply does not exist.”

Ohio Won’t Ante Up for Trump’s Unemployment Insurance Plan

Negotiations Stalled

With negotiations in Congress stalled, Trump on Saturday issued orders and memorandums that he said would provide a measure of economic relief. Critics said the administration has oversold their effect, and that some can’t pass constitutional muster.

Cuomo questioned the legality of Trump’s plan. “You cannot make a law with an executive order,” Cuomo said, adding that he expects the matter to wind up in court.

“It will be challenged and no one will get anything and the situation will be even worse than it is in the country today,” Cuomo said.

The order would cost New York state $4.2 billion between now and December, Cuomo said.

“We started with a $30 billion hole and your solution is to cost me another $4 billion? Thank you, that’s handing the drowning man an anchor,” Cuomo said.

Cuomo was joined by Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear, a fellow Democrat, who said the executive order is “unworkable.”

Without financial help, Beshear warned, a short-term recession could end up going into a depression. Beshear called on Congress and the Trump administration to authorize a continued $600-a-week benefit.

“In Kentucky, people are spending those dollars,” he said. “It is helping us keep our economy afloat.”

©2020 Bloomberg L.P.