Utah joins other states stopping $300 weekly federal jobless payments

Utah, along with at least nine other states, has called a halt to its participation the federal COVID-19 pandemic unemployment program that adds $300 per week to benefits paid by the state. Gov. Spencer Cox made the announcement in a recent press release from his office.

The federal benefit will end June 26 along with several other federal stimulus programs. The final payments to those Utahns who are eligible for those programs will be made between June 27 and July 3, according to the Utah Department of Workforce Services. After that, Utahns will remain eligible for any unemployment benefits they qualify for under pre-pandemic criteria, the department said.

“This is the natural next step in getting the state and people’s lives back to normal,” Cox said in the release. “I believe in the value of work. With the nation’s lowest unemployment rate at 2.9 percent and plenty of good-paying jobs available today, it makes sense to transition away from these extra benefits that were never intended to be permanent. The market should not be competing with government for workers.”

The move is apparently partially in response to anecdotal evidence that people are turning down — or at least not seeking — jobs because the federal $300-per-week benefit, coupled with state benefits, exceeds what many available jobs are paying, leading to a shortage of workers in some Utah industries.

The Utah Department of Workforce Services currently lists over 50,000 job openings in the state despite the low unemployment rate. About 28,000 Utahns are currently drawing the extra $300 each week in addition to state unemployment payments. Nearly $12.4 million is paid out in the state each week through the program, according to the governor’s office.

The governor’s office said other assistance, such as rent, utility, food and medical assistance, will still be available after June 26.

Cox joins a growing number of Republican governors rejecting increased unemployment benefits meant to help Americans during the COVID-19 pandemic. Governors in Iowa, Missouri and Tennessee, Alabama, Mississippi, North Dakota, Montana, South Carolina and Arkansas have made the same move.

The federal benefits have been allocated through September, prompting the Utah Democratic Party to blast Cox’s decision to “turn down free money.” However, business organizations such as the Salt Lake Chamber praised the move, as did members of Utah’s congressional delegation.