With millions of Californians jobless during the COVID-19 pandemic, Gov. Gavin Newsom said Monday that the state would face “massive” budget cuts if it carried out President Trump’s plan to have states provide $100 of a $400 supplemental weekly unemployment benefit.
Newsom and legislative leaders called on federal officials to overcome a stalemate involving Congress and the president to provide additional funding for states now that a $600 weekly unemployment payment from the federal government has expired. He noted that the plan would cost the state at least $700 million per week and up to $2.8 billion if the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security Act funding is depleted.
“The state does not have an identified resource of $700 million per week that we haven’t already obliged,” Newsom said. “There is no money sitting in the piggy bank.”
Newsom’s comments followed Trump’s announcement Saturday that he signed an executive order to provide $400 a week to unemployed Americans as long as states pick up a quarter of the cost.
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