Ind. Court Of Appeals Will Allow State To End Federal Unemployment Benefits

Tuesday, August 17, 2021 at 10:23 AM

The ruling overturned a Marion County judge’s order to temporarily reinstate $300 weekly federal funding for thousands of Hoosiers.

Shutterstock photo.

(INDIANAPOLIS) – Expanded unemployment benefits in Indiana will end prior to the nationwide expiration date in September.

The Indiana Court of Appeals ruled in favor of Governor Eric Holcomb on Tuesday, overturning a Marion County judge’s order to temporarily reinstate $300 weekly federal funding to roughly 230,000 Hoosiers.

Gov. Holcomb announced in May that Indiana would end its participation in all federally funded pandemic unemployment insurance programs effective June 19.

The decision was immediately followed by a lawsuit from two legal organizations. The lawsuit said the governor’s actions would prematurely impact thousands of Hoosiers prior to the expanded benefits expiration date in early September.

Because Indiana Code does not require participation in the CARES Act program, the state’s decision to terminate the benefits did not violate any statues.

Therefore, the Indiana Court of Appeals found that the trial court abused its discretion when it granted the motion for preliminary injunction.

The judgement did not state if the benefits would end immediately.

The Indiana Democratic Party released the following statement:

“The back-and-forth court litigation about unemployment benefits continues to expose one glaring problem: Indiana Republicans created a 'work more for less' economy where Hoosiers are being forced to take low-paying jobs and work sometimes 80 hours just to make rent, not including other utilities. This falls on Indiana Republicans like Governor Eric Holcomb who refuse to address the state's 'F' workforce grade and a track record of losing 'good jobs' in the state. It's why Democrats are eager to pass the American Jobs Plan, because the transformative infrastructure investments would begin to solve the problems created by the Indiana Republican Party." – Drew Anderson, spokesman for the Indiana Democratic Party

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