Washington, Aug 9(UNI) Asserting his executive power President Donald Trump on Saturday, surpassing Congress signed four actions, one of which will provide as much as $400 in enhanced unemployment benefits, 25% of which states are being asked to cover, after Democrats and the White House failed to reach an agreement on a coronavirus stimulus relief bill this week, CNN reported on Sunday.
The other three actions he signed include a memorandum on a payroll tax holiday for Americans earning less than $100,000 a year, an executive order on "assistance to renters and homeowners" and a memorandum on deferring student loan payments.
Trump said $300 (or 75%) of the enhanced aid will come from the federal government, and $100 (or 25%) will therefore have to come from the states. Since governors would have to pay that $100 for people to get the full benefit, it is not clear how many of those unemployed would be able to receive the full $400 benefit.
A memorandum issued by the White House said that up to $44 billion from the Disaster Relief Fund would be made available for "lost wage assistance" to supplement state payments.
But when asked about the President's executive action asking states to pay 25% of the $400 unemployment relief, an official from a northeastern state run by a Democratic governor laughed. "We don't have that money," the official said.
This official went on to say that they were not given any heads up on this executive action and that in the wake of the pandemic, their funds are completely tapped.
In fact, states have asked Congress to provide them with an additional $500 billion to help shore up their budgets, which have been crushed by the loss of tax revenue amid the pandemic. This has been one of the main points of contention between Democrats, who want to allocate additional aid, and Republicans, who don't want to bail out what they say are badly managed states.
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