Legal groups sue state over slashing of federal unemployment benefits [Video]

WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW:

• Indiana Legal Services (ILS) and Macey Swanson Hicks & Sauer law firm filed a suit against Indiana over its cancellation of the federal unemployment benefits program.
• The legal groups appealed to Gov. Eric Holcomb (R-IN.) to overrule its decision.
• Indiana is one of the 25-GOP led states that opt to halt the federal funding for unemployed people.

In Indiana, two legal groups have challenged Gov. Eric Holcomb (R) for authorizing the cancellation of the federal-based pandemic unemployment benefits.

In a joint lawsuit against the governor, Indiana Legal Services (ILS) and Macey Swanson Hicks & Sauer law firm claimed that cutting the program would “cause irreparable harm to individual clients.”

“These benefits have provided life-sustaining and crucial assistance to many Hoosiers during the pandemic… The legislature passed a law creating a right to these benefits, and we’re asking Governor Holcomb to follow the law,” ILS executive director Jon Laramore said in a statement on Tuesday.

“This pandemic has been tough on everyone and we’re not out of the woods yet,” Jeffrey Macey, Macey Swanson Hicks & Sauer and co-counsel, said in a separate statement. “A saving grace for many of my clients has been the expanded unemployment benefits offered by the federal government.”

The cash incentives include the additional weekly benefits of $300, the Pandemic Unemployment Assistance (PUA) program and the Pandemic Emergency Unemployment Compensation (PEUC) program.

Speaking with Yahoo Money, Century Foundation senior fellow and unemployment insurance expert Andrew Stettner said: “ILS makes a compelling argument that the Governor’s actions violate the directive of Indiana state law to protect the unemployed. I hope the court will swiftly put a temporary injunction in place to maintain benefits.”

Indiana is among the 25 GOP-led states that intend to halt the federal unemployment benefits beginning this month and early next month. The federal funding is set to expire on September 6. 

In a letter addressed to the labor secretary last month, Senators Ron Wyden (D-OR.) and Bernie Sanders (I-VT.) urged the government to make a way to provide funding for the PUA beneficiaries. Sanders even emphasized that it was a “congressionally-mandated requirement.”

Per the projection made by the Century Foundation, over four million employees would no longer be receiving at least $1,200 benefits this month or early next month. About 60 percent of workers in all those 25 states would be affected by this scheme. 

By June 19, Indiana is considering slashing the benefits from the $1.3 billion funding allocated by the federal government. This would impact 236,000 unemployed people.

Source: AOL