Image via iStock
BY EMILY HOEVEN | Calmmters
California has a lot riding on federal unemployment benefits set to expire this week.
The Golden State could sink even deeper into recession and lose thousands of more jobs if the Republican proposal to decrease weekly benefits from $600 to $200 is enacted, according to several recent studies. Congressional Democrats want to keep the $600 weekly addition to state unemployment benefits, which in California max out at $450.
California would lose about $1.4 billion weekly and $12.9 billion by the end of September under the GOP plan, according to the nonpartisan Century Foundation. It would also lose nearly 560,000 jobs over the next year, more than any other state, the progressive Economic Policy Institute found.
- Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, a Kentucky Republican: “The goal is to eliminate the prospect that one can make more not working than working. We’re trying to hit that sweet spot to continue unemployment insurance at an adequate level but not in effect pay people to stay at home.”
But if California Democrats have their way, the $600 additional weekly benefits will continue even if the GOP’s plan is approved.
Lawmakers on Monday released a $100 billion plan that proposes borrowing money from the feds to make up the difference in unemployment benefits — one of the few options California has to stimulate its own economy, CalMatters’ Ben Christopher reports.
- Assemblymember Adam Gray, a Merced Democrat: “We cannot count on Washington, D.C., for anything these days. If we want solutions to the economic challenges created by COVID-19, we must have the resolve to create and fund them ourselves.”
More than 292,000 Californians applied for unemployment benefits last week, bringing the total to nearly 7 million since the onset of the pandemic.
Lawmakers on Thursday will conduct an oversight hearing on California’s beleaguered unemployment department — but a committee this week delayed consideration of Republicans’ request for a formal audit.
CalMatters.org is a nonprofit, nonpartisan media venture explaining California policies and politics.
-
Washington tramples UCLA 48-14 on Senior Night
Washington steamrolled UCLA 48–14 on Senior Night at the Rose Bowl, capitalizing on turnovers, special teams chaos, and a dominant night from QB Demond Williams Jr.
-
UCLA Football Wins Its Third Straight Game Ahead of Ranked Matchup
UCLA keeps rolling. After edging Maryland 20–17 at the Rose Bowl, the Bruins have quietly stacked three straight wins and are heading into another ranked showdown. Charlie Gonzalez breaks down the grind, the grit, and the moments that mattered.
-
What Are We Cheering For?
Every holiday, every weekend, every so-called American ritual came with a side of football. The game would be on, and we were supposed to care. I didn’t. Not really. Not until I almost did. For a brief stretch, when my dad worked with the Clippers during the Lob City era, I started to believe. Chris Paul, Blake Griffin, DeAndre Jordan — it felt like swagger, like culture, like something to belong to. Then the trades came, the team got gutted, and the curtain dropped. It wasn’t family. It wasn’t culture. It was business. That moment stuck. The more I watched, the more the wires showed: how ritual gets packaged, sold, and weaponized. How meaning becomes merchandise. How attention becomes empire.
-
When AI Replaced Our Comics
When AI replaced hand-drawn comics in our newsroom, I saw more than ugly art — I saw the erosion of what makes journalism worth doing.
