Gov. Gretchen Whitmer has not agreed to supplement federal unemployment dollars. | Facebook
Gov. Gretchen Whitmer has not agreed to supplement federal unemployment dollars. | Facebook
With states being offered the opportunity to continue additional unemployment payments to residents, if they foot part of the bill, the national debate continues to rage over whether or not state governments should take the offer extended by President Donald Trump’s administration.
While Gov. Gretchen Whitmer has applied for the $300-per-week additional unemployment payments offered by the Trump Administration, she has declined to pitch in $100 per week from state funds, host Chris Renwick recently revealed on WJR’s "The Frank Beckmann Show."
Anderson Economic Group Principal and CEO Patrick Anderson recently appeared on the show, where he spoke with Renwick about the situation.
"The ramifications are pretty significant, and it’s not certain that we’re going to get the $300, and it’s particularly uncertain for all the self-employed workers, many of whom were totally put out of business by orders from this governor, by restrictions, by cancellations,” Anderson told Renwick.
Anderson said that the federal program is specifically targeted toward helping out those self-employed workers.
"Especially people that have small businesses they started themselves, they’re generally not covered by traditional unemployment that’s paid for out of a tax on wages,” Anderson told Renwick.
Anderson reiterated that if the state refuses to provide an additional $100-per-week for those receiving unemployment, it’s not clear that the state would still be eligible to receive any money from the federal government.
With unemployment levels that have reached the Depression-era numbers, which Anderson Economic Group predicted in March, a lot of people could suffer as a result.
"And, of course, that’s what you get when people are afraid to go places, plus you have executive orders that essentially criminalize opening your business,” Anderson said on the radio program.
With the expectation that the state will face a “coronavirus economy” for months, that situation isn’t going to go away anytime soon, according to Anderson.
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