The federal government is about to turn off the tap for Texans who were getting an extra $300 a week in jobless benefits, according to the Texas Workforce Commission.
In a letter sent to claimants, TWC said the Federal Emergency Management Agency notified it that the funds — authorized through an executive order by President Donald Trump — will stop flowing after the week of September 5.
TWC said it had no part in the decision to stop the funding and that claimants won’t be able to appeal it. Around 1.8 million Texans receive the $300 payment, the Texas Tribune reports, citing TWC data.
The Trump White House authorized the $300 weekly payments in August, following the expiration of a $600 weekly unemployment benefit approved by Congress. Both sets of benefits were meant to remedy massive unemployment brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Congress in mired in partisan bickering over a new round of pandemic-relief funding, raising questions about whether there will be additional federal help for people who lost work during the crisis, according to a Washington Post report.
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This article appears in Sep 9-22, 2020.
