skip to main content
skip to newscasts

Tuesday, December 24, 2024

Public News Service Logo
facebook instagram linkedin reddit youtube twitter
view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

Bill Clinton is hospitalized for observation and testing after developing a fever; Biden commutes most federal death sentences before Trump takes office; Proposed post office 'slowdown' threatens rural Americans; Report: Tax credits shrink poverty for NM kids, families; Tiny plastic pieces enter the body in ways you'd never think of.

view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

Biden commutes the sentences of most federal death row inmates, the House Ethics Committee says former Rep. Gaetz may have committed statutory rape, and the national archivist won't certify the ERA without congressional approval.

view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

Rural folks could soon be shut out of loans for natural disasters if Project 2025 has its way, Taos, New Mexico weighs options for its housing shortage, and the top states providing America's Christmas trees revealed.

Experts Say Prematurely Ending Federal UI Could Harm KY Economy

play audio
Play

Monday, June 7, 2021   

FRANKFORT, Ky. - More than twenty states are voluntarily ending their participation in a federal unemployment program, but Gov. Andy Beshear says he's not ready to do that yet.

Experts say prematurely ending the extra $300 a week authorized by the American Rescue Plan could harm Kentucky families and the economy. The extra pay is slated to expire on September 6.

Dustin Pugel, senior policy analyst with the Kentucky Center for Economic Policy pointed out the money has helped gig workers, independent contractors, and other workers left out of the system.

"Unemployment insurance hasn't been meaningfully changed since it was created 80 years ago," said Pugel, "in terms of its function and who it serves."

Beshear has he said would consider ending the extra benefits before the fall.

U.S. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell - R-Louisville - and others have called for immediately ending participation the program, arguing the extra money is preventing people from seeking employment and harming businesses who need workers.

Pugel added the benefit has brought almost $4 billion into Kentucky since the start of the pandemic.

"And since the $300 benefit was reinstated it's brought in $360 million," said Pugel. "And I credit this benefit in large part to ensuring that we didn't have an even worse employment situation."

And while critics say the program disincentivizes people from seeking work, Pugel says the data indicates otherwise.

"But we're seeking the exact opposite," said Pugel,. "Leisure and hospitality accommodation and food services, they really rebounded incredibly compared to how many jobs they lost."

He says that if Kentucky were to get rid of the $300 a week in benefits it would cost the state an estimated $229 million.





Disclosure: Kentucky Center for Economic Policy contributes to our fund for reporting on Budget Policy & Priorities, Criminal Justice, Education, Social Justice. If you would like to help support news in the public interest, click here.


get more stories like this via email
more stories
Juana Valle's well is one of 20 sites tested in California's San Joaquin Valley and Central Coast regions in the first round of preliminary sampling by University of California-Berkeley researchers and the Community Water Center. The results showed 96 parts per trillion of total PFAS in her water, including 32 parts per trillion of PFOS - both considered potentially hazardous amounts. (Hannah Norman/KFF Health News)

Environment

play sound

By Hannah Norman for KFF Health News.Broadcast version by Suzanne Potter for California News Service reporting for the KFF Health News-Public News Ser…


Environment

play sound

Animal rights organizers are regrouping after mixed results at the ballot box in November. A measure targeting factory farms passed in Berkeley but …

Environment

play sound

Farmers in Nebraska and across the nation might not be in panic mode anymore thanks to another extension of the Farm Bill but they still want Congress…


Immigration law experts say applying for asylum status can be very lengthy, and that programs such as Temporary Protected Status can fill the void for people fleeing violence elsewhere in the world. (Adobe Stock)

Social Issues

play sound

With 2025 almost here, organizations assisting Minnesota's Latino populations say they're laser focused on a couple of areas - mental health-care …

Social Issues

play sound

Nearly a dozen changes could be made to the Kentucky Community and Technical College system, under Senate Joint Resolution 179, passed by lawmakers …

Beef tallow is made from parts of the cow that are not sold as meat and are transported instead to rendering plants. (Adobe Stock)

Social Issues

play sound

By Jessica Scott-Reid for Sentient.Broadcast version by Nadia Ramlagan for Arkansas News Service reporting for the Sentient-Public News Service Collab…

play sound

By Julieta Cardenas for Sentient.Broadcast version by Freda Ross for Texas News Service reporting for the Sentient-Public News Service Collaboration …

Social Issues

play sound

Cities and states, including Mississippi, are grappling with rising homelessness. In Mississippi, 982 people experience homelessness daily…

 

Phone: 303.448.9105 Toll Free: 888.891.9416 Fax: 208.247.1830 Your trusted member- and audience-supported news source since 1996 Copyright © 2021