Jobless Floridians could receive federal assistance by year’s end

By John Haughey
The Center Square
December 23, 2020

As many as 650,000 Floridians, including an estimated 500,000 whose state unemployment benefits have expired, could receive federal Pandemic Unemployment Assistance (PUA) payments between Christmas and the new year.

Congress passed a $900 billion COVID-19 stimulus bill Monday night, with only six “no” votes in the Senate, including Florida U.S. Sen. Rick Scott.

Highlights of the stimulus include $120 billion for PUA unemployment benefits through March 14; $166 billion in payments of $600 to individuals making up to $75,000 per year and $600 per dependent child; and $284 billion for the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP), which provides forgivable loans businesses can use to meet payroll and not lay off workers.

The renewed PUA benefits – 11 weeks of an additional $300 – should kick in for Floridians by Sunday.

According to the Florida Department of Economic Opportunity (FDEO), an estimated 651,000 Floridians are unemployed but only about 135,000 were claiming state benefits through last week.

As many as a half-million Floridians have seen their 12 weeks of $275 state unemployment payouts expire. The 12 weeks of eligibility is the nation’s shortest, and the $275 weekly payout is the fifth-lowest in the U.S.

With no federal assistance for state and local governments in the package, Florida lawmakers may be forced to ponder significant cuts to the state’s current budget and its fiscal year 2022 budget when they convene March 2.

The state received $5.8 billion from the $2 trillion Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security (CARES) Act passed in March to address budget concerns.

State economists projected in August a $5.4 billion shortfall for the next two fiscal years, but on Monday, they trimmed an estimated $2.7 billion shortfall in fiscal 2022 shortfall by $2.1 billion after documenting better-than-expected sales and corporate income taxes through year’s end.

According to the updated projections, Florida’s general revenue fund, the state’s primary source of discretionary spending, will accrue $32.5 billion this fiscal year and $34.3 billion in fiscal 2022, which still is a combined $3.3 billion less than pre-pandemic estimates.

House Speaker Chris Sprowls, R-Palm Harbor, and Senate President Wilton Simpson, who is recovering from COVID-19, said the revised projections are good news, but there’s still plenty of bad news awaiting lawmakers in 2021

“By any measure, the significant gains reflected in [Monday’s] estimate do not negate the many difficult challenges we will face as we craft a budget for the upcoming fiscal year, or that families and businesses across our state are facing as we all continue to battle COVID-19,” said Simpson, R-Trilby. “We know all too well that these estimates can change in a heartbeat; therefore, the Senate will continue to proceed with caution.”

Florida’s senior U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio, who chairs the Senate Small Business Committee and was pivotal in crafting the renewed $284 billion PPP, praised the new stimulus package.

“Restaurants, live venues and small local chambers should finally be on the way,” Rubio said.

Scott said he voted against the bill because “Washington is broken” and it “is almost 5,600 pages long.”

“This crisis has devastated American small businesses and American workers, and I support many of the COVID-related provisions to boost small businesses, prevent further layoffs and enhance unemployment assistance – provisions necessary because of the recklessness of the Chinese Communist Party and the overzealous shutdowns by politicians here in America who do not know what it is like to struggle for money or for work,” Scott said.

Scott spearheaded opposition to state and local government aid in the package.

“States do not need bailouts; they want bailouts so they can use the money – intended to address the fallout from COVID – to plug the long-standing holes in their budgets and pension systems,” he said. “It’s as simple as that.”

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Ben Martin
Ben Martin(@ben-martin)
3 years ago

Most Americans who will receive $600 in assistance should be more aware about “under the radar” provisions in this most recent stimulus bill.

Reportedly:

1.3 billion would go to Egypt, $700 million to Sudan and $500 million to Israel.

An extension of a tax credit for racehorse owners is included.

The Smithsonian, the National Art Gallery, and others will receive tremendous grants.

More money will go to the Foreign countries and American Art Centers than the American people.

Youtube search Tulsi Gabbard (a Democratic congresswomen) and you might find the video where she states members of congress received the 5,500 page bill around 2:30 PM and were expected to vote on this just a few hours later. She explains how provisions are snuck into bills surreptitiously via this way. (How can congress allow this?)

Supporters of Donald Trump are urging him to veto the bill.

Joseph Kayne
Joseph Kayne(@jay-kayne)
3 years ago

After months of COVID denial, Ben Martin now presents himself as the authority on the COVID Relief Act. Setting aside the need for Mr. Haughey to update his report based on Trump’s “indie video” blowing up the bi-partisan agreement, Mr. Martin felt the need to add, “Most Americans who will receive $600 in assistance should be more aware about “under the radar” provisions in this most recent stimulus bill.” He pointed to items “reportedly” (his word) including:

  • $1.3 billion would go to Egypt, $700 million to Sudan and $500 million to Israel.
  • An extension of a tax credit for racehorse owners
  •  The Smithsonian, the National Art Gallery, and others will receive tremendous grants.

If Mr. Martin had done his homework, he would know the 5,500 page bill sent to the White House for signature combined the $900 billion COVID relief act and the budget resolution which authorizes the funding for the federal government for the remainder of this fiscal year. In other words, none of the items which seem to make Mr. Martin’s neck hairs stand on end are covered under the $900 billion dollars for stimulus checks, supplemental unemployment, personal protective equipment, vaccine distribution, etc.

So the question is, “Where could Mr. Martin have possibly obtained this incorrect information?” You guessed it. Donald J. Trump. In the Trump/Meadows comedy production aired Tuesday night, Trump made the same mistake, referring to “$1.3 billion for Egypt” as part of the COVID Relief Bill. To make the same point Mr. Martin echoed, Trump complained, “Congress found plenty of money for foreign countries, lobbyists and special interests while sending the bare minimum to the American people who need it.” (To demonstrate to Mr. Warren what sourced documentation looks like, this statement appears at the 03:18 mark in the video.) What Trump did not tell Mr. Martin or anyone else was all of the items he criticized were recommended in his own FY2021 budget submitted to Congress on February 10, 2020. Oops!

Ben Martin
Ben Martin(@ben-martin)
3 years ago
Reply to  Joseph Kayne

Mr. Kayne – please get your facts straight first and distort them as you please. The video I referred to was not a Trump “indie video.” It was a video by Democratic congresswomen Tulsi Gabbard. It’s on youtube. You should watch it. So should every other American.

The fact that we have congress voting on bills they don’t have time to read might be a big problem – huh?

Dr. Joseph Kayne
Dr. Joseph Kayne(@jay-kayne)
3 years ago
Reply to  Ben Martin

Why do I bother, the video I was referring to was the one Tuesday night when Trump, without informing any of his team, unilateral blew up the COVID relief deal. It’s clear you neither appreciate satire nor do to read what others write. Or else you would not have made this false assumption. The reference was not to Tulsi Gabbard, but to the need for the writer to update his article since it is now questionable whether there would be relief any time soon.

I did notice you had no comment about the fact both you and Trump did not know that know it was a combined bill negating your accusation that the COVID relief act included non-germane items.

By the way, it’s DR. Kayne to you.

Ben Martin
Ben Martin(@ben-martin)
3 years ago

It was a single vote for all the provisions contained in a 5500 page document, that congress had a few hours to read. The document contained a whole lot of provisions other than corona relief. That is what I understood Ms. Gabbard to say. It seems to me you are trying to over complicate what is simple. Please have a merry Xmas. Let us hope and pray for the best. The sliver lining in 2020 is that we may all become more tuned in to what is important.

Dr. Joseph Kayne
Dr. Joseph Kayne(@jay-kayne)
3 years ago
Reply to  Ben Martin

Let me explain it to you. Yes, there was one vote, for convenience. The document contained two bills, the COVID Relief Act and the Omnibus Budget Act. They were developed under two separately different processes by different people. The Omnibus Budget Act begins with the president’s budget proposal which included all of the items you and he seem so upset about. Both pieces of legislation were on tight deadlines. Without passage of the budget act, the government would have shut down on Monday. Without the COVID Relief Act, supplemental unemployment payments would have ceased on Thursday and the moratorium on evictions would have ended on the 31st. Again, for convenience the bills were put together to facilitate passage before the holiday recess. There were NO tradeoffs between the two bills. COVID relief funds were not used for foreign aid. If you have problems with foreign aid, that is a different issue.

I know you don’t care, but I have worked in DC and been involved in the development of complex legislation. If you think it looks messy from the outside, you should see it from the inside. The process is imperfect and is not helped when negotiations come down to the 11th hour. Or when the president does not engage in the process and then blows up a bipartisan deal at the last minute.

Tulsi Gabbard is welcome to her opinion, but she is one of several legislators on both sides of the aisle who find it easier to critic than help. If you paid close attention how the two bills came together, you can see it was the result of a small group of moderate Democrats and Republicans who spent hours working together to achieve the good rather than holding out for the perfect from their respective perspectives.

For me what is important is that we not have another day when 93 fellow residents of Nassau County become infected with the coronavirus nor another week when five die of COVID-19. Then I’ll worry if we fund the arts, spend too much on foreign aid or the horse racing industry have effective lobbyists.