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A Florida judge rejected the motion Wednesday to reinstate the $ 300 weekly unemployment benefit . The lawsuit had been filed by a group of ten workers against the state’s governor, Ron DeSantis, for suddenly ending his pandemic emergency unemployment compensation (PEUC) in July. Federal support has an expiration date of September 6, although it is no longer granted in more than 20 states currently.
The workers filed the lawsuit alleging that the governor had violated the law , since the expiration date of the financial support is September 6 and not in July, when it was immediately cut off.
Layne Smith, a circuit judge in Leon County, Florida, ruled in a document of 18 pages than the Governor DeSantis acted legally by cutting the COVID pandemic benefit – 19. The Florida president made that decision due to the lack of workforce throughout the state.
The judge also declared that the motion was meaningless, since the federal support will also end in a few days. Likewise, indicated that retroactives were not going to be possible because the deadline is very close.
“If the plaintiffs qualified for an injunction, given the imminent expiration of the program (Federal Pandemic Unemployment Compensation) on September 6, 2021, the entry of a temporary injunction would be a fruitless exercise that would not produce any results, “wrote Smith.
Finally, the judge indicated that Ron DeSantis’ strategy with respect to the PEUC is a political issue that must be approved or rejected by Floridians at the polls, not at a court.
However, DeSantis is not alone, others 26 states had already prematurely ruled the end of support by unemployment for months. In Arkansas, Maryland, and Oklahoma, workers did succeed and were able to reinstate pay, but only temporarily. Contrary cases were observed in Indiana, Louisiana, Ohio, West Virginia and now Florida, in which the benefit was suspended.
According to data from Century Foundation , more than 4 million people were affected in 26 states by the suspension of the PEUC in the last months. This same week, more than 7 million unemployed will be added to that figure due to at the end of the federal law.