While the debate over the next stimulus checks plan rages in Washington, some Americans are set to receive as little as $5 a week in unemployment now that the $600 federal boost has expired. The extra weekly benefit, which was a supplement to state unemployment money, was provided through the CARES Act. That benefit ran out on July 31, and how not been renewed or extended yet.
According to CNBC, the amount of money that some states can provide is extremely low, depending on the situation of an individual. The outlet notes that most states have minimums that fall below $100 a week. For example, Hawaii pays $5 a week at the low end of its scale. Louisiana is not much higher, offering $10, and both Connecticut and North Carolina offer $15. Both Nevada and Oklahoma provided $16, on their low ends, and Delaware hit $20. The highest minimums are Arizona and Washington state, both of which come in at just under $190 a week.
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Keeping families in their homes is a public health & economic requirement. We have to extend the full $600 supplement to unemployment checks & the eviction moratorium so struggling families can pay the bills. If we don’t, spending dries up & our economy will stall even more.
— Elizabeth Warren (@SenWarren) August 5, 2020
At this time, there is no word on when, or if, the federal unemployment will be extended. On Monday, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer — both Democrats — met with Trump administration officials Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and White House chief of staff Mark Meadows to discuss the relief bill. According to CNBC, Schumer later said of the 90-minute meeting, “we’re making progress” over the details.
“We really went down issue by issue by issue, slogging through them. They made some concessions, which we appreciated. We made some concessions, which they appreciated. We’re still far away on a lot of the important issues, but we’re continuing to go at it.” Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has since commented on the negotiations, saying, “Wherever this thing settles between the president of the United States and his team, that have to sign it into law, and the Democrat not insignificant minority in the Senate and majority in the House, is something I’m prepared to support even if I have some problems with certain parts of it.”
