Thousands of Oklahomans have lost their jobs as a result of the pandemic, and an Oklahoma County district judge has ordered the state to start paying $300 per week in extra unemployment payments.
Reinstatement of Unemployment Benefits
In a recently published article in MSN News, District Judge Anthony Bonner Jr., granted a preliminary injunction directing the state to inform the Labor Department about the reinstatement and administration of federal unemployment benefits authorized by Congress as part of its coronavirus relief efforts.
Judge Bonner ordered the state to stay in the program until he makes his final ruling in the lawsuit or until the federal program ends on Sept. 6, whichever comes first. On Monday, Bonner indicated he would issue a more comprehensive order with findings and conclusions.
Chad Smith, Brendan McHugh, and Dana Jim, lawyers of the petitioners said, "We are thankful for the careful consideration by the Court today and are pleased by the order for the OESC to resume federal unemployment benefits to the Petitioners and all other hard-working Oklahomans required to be on unemployment," according to a published article in FOX 25.
Other Federal Benefits that Will Be Restored
The judge's ruling includes the restoration of the following federal benefits that were stopped, according to a published article in The Hill:
- Unemployment payments are extended beyond the usual 26-week limit under the Pandemic Emergency Unemployment Compensation program.
- Workers who do not otherwise qualify, such as self-employed and gig workers, are eligible for Pandemic Unemployment Assistance.
- Individuals who earned at least $5,000 in self-employment income in the previous taxable year and were not receiving Pandemic Unemployment Assistance payments were eligible for an extra $100 per week in benefits under Mixed Earner Unemployment Compensation.
Meanwhile, The Oklahoma Supreme Court will hear a dispute involving the suspension of unemployment benefits next week. The hearing will take place on August 11th. It is unclear when individuals will be able to get federal unemployment benefits again. In June, the state ended the program.
Why the State Governor Stopped the Unemployment Assistance?
Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt (R) ended the coronavirus-related federal unemployment benefits in June. Like many Republicans, he was claiming that the payments were discouraging jobless individuals from returning to work, a position that Democrats and a number of experts disputed. Stitt also promised a one-time $1,200 return-to-work incentive payout at the time of his decision.
Stitt said when he announced the state's withdrawal from the federal program in May that the real challenge is not getting back the businesses to open but getting back the people to work. He also emphasized that one of the reasons why this happened is due to the extension of federal benefits, according to a published article in The Oklahoman.
Stitt and Shelley Zumwalt, executive director of the Oklahoma Employment Security Commission, were challenged by many employees for their right to withdraw from federal unemployment benefits. In a similar case filed in the Oklahoma Supreme Court last month, ten jobless Oklahomans claim Stitt went too far by shutting off access to pandemic-related unemployment benefits that should have been accessible until September.
