The maximum weekly state unemployment benefit in the once great Commonwealth of Virginia (now East California) is $398 based on what your pay was before you became a public trust.
The GOP proposed continued weekly supplement to the state benefit is $400.
On an annualized basis (398+400×52) that amounts to $41,496 for an individual and $82,992 for an unemployed couple with both collecting unemployment benefits.
In the previous situation the individual federal plus up was $600. That was providing an additional $10,400 per week on an annualized basis. That amounted to $51,896 per individual and $103,792 for an unemployed couple.
I wonder if you could still get food stamps under this set up.
Let me know if my arithmetic is bad. pl
I don’t think this affects SNAP benefits if you were already eligable. If you did a similar calculation on take home pay at the left’s desired $15/hr minimum you’re even better off. At 40/hrs a week your take home is ~ $450/week. If unemployed you might get 50% of that level, $225. Why $400 more, that gives you more money than you used to get working full time? In most states the hand out will exceed the take home pay while at the same time causing the destruction of actual employers and the tax revenue source for states and municipalities.
If they want to stimulate the economy end the forced closures of businesses that employ people. These are dangerous precedents of allowing the destruction of businesses and disruption of the social fabric of the republic over a very nebulous risk.
https://www.marketwatch.com/story/a-staggering-number-of-laid-off-workers-are-receiving-more-money-from-unemployment-benefits-than-when-they-were-employed-2020-05-26?mod=article_inline
Could this be a trial run for
UBI(universl basic income?)
Six hundred verses four hundred.
Hey, trillion here a trillion there!
What’s not to like. Get the wheel
Barrels and shovels at the ready.
Your math is not incorrect IF benefits are paid for the full 52 weeks.
Fortunately or unfortunately depending on what side you fall on that is not a possibility under current law.
As it stands the law in Virginia pays out for 12-26 weeks.
The payments in Virginia range from 54-378 depending on your salary. To receive the maximum benefit, you would have to have earned 2 quarters of a base salary of 18,900. Or in other words 37800 for the previous 6 months.
The extra Federal payment has already lapsed but let us assume that it is extended through that entire 26 week period (which is doubtful.)
So Best case:
State: 26×378=9828
Fed: 26×600=15600
Total: 25428
So that is -12472 (at 600 weekly) and -15272 (at proposed 400 plan) less than you would have made working.
That loss would be even worse if your salary was greater than 37900 over the 2 quarters since benefits are capped.
IMHO that kind of loss might be worth it if you REALLY hate your job, or your boss, and have no dependents but it’s not much of a disincentive for the average American worker.
You would have to have a lot of kids to qualify for any assistance.
But two other things to consider: This money is taxable at both the state and federal levels. Also the people who were laid off permanently lost their healthcare. During the Great Recession the federal government paid about two-thirds of people’s COBRA premiums. That is not happening this time.
jerseycityjoan,
I personally know a few people who were shocked, SHOCKED!!, to discover that their unemployment windfalls would be subject to taxation. They were more than happy to collect the max amount and indulge in their manufactured fear of the virus and “concern” for others until they were informed of this little snag in the scam. The irony of it all is that these people then complained bitterly about the unfairness of being taxed on income not a cent of which they earned, while simultaneously being perfectly fine with other people being taxed to the max on income that they came to by the sweat of their brows, so to speak. Of course, they understand that this taxation is necessary to cover things like, say, unemployment benefits. This arrangement is perfectly acceptable to them.
I’m starting to believe that issues that plague our society do not stem from a dearth of critical thinking skills, but more from a severe deficiency in moral education and upbringing (willfully so, in many cases). Even so-called “decent” or “kind” people consistently reveal to me a stunning lack of ethical principles, even in such relatively benign matters such as this.
It was the state and municipal governments that caused this unemployment problem by irresponsibly gutting their economies. Let the relevant state and municipal governments pay for all of it, both the unemployment compensation and the healthcare premiums.
As I’ve said before the only country in the world that has handled COVID 19 rationally and scientifically is Sweden. The Swedes are doing quite well.
Let Americans reap what they have sown.
The top story right now at the Daily Mail has a big picture of a food bank car line in Dallas. The headline says: “THOUSANDS of cars form mile-long line at Dallas food bank as families drive across Texas for box of noodles, spaghetti sauce, peanut butter, rice, and trail mix as unemployment cripples state.”
It also says on the front page: “Despite data showing new weekly claims for unemployment benefits fell below one million for the first time in five months, people traveled from the other side of the state to reach the North Texas Food Bank which distributed 10,000 boxes of food.”
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-8624311/Thousands-cars-form-mile-long-line-Dallas-food-bank-unemployment-benefits-reduced.html
Now it is true that a probably a lot of these people are illegal immigrants who didn’t qualify for unemployment. Still, driving hundreds of miles for a food box — when you don’t know if they’ll run out before it’s your turn — is a long way to travel for very little.
Yes, some people had some extra cash in recent months due to the federal unemployment and didn’t spent it well, including many stay at home young people who don’t pay rent. But there are a lot of people out there in big trouble too. I don’t expect unemployment to go below 5% for a long time and the extra money will not continue. If people are hurting this bad now, how will the still unemployed be doing next year? Just think of all the businesses who aren’t going to survive the shutdowns and the restrictions and the online ordering. Are we going to have tens of millions of good new jobs to replace the jobs we’ve lost? I don’t know what they would be. Businesses will be trying like the devil not to hire to save money, it seems to me.
Sir:
Aside from the temporary size of the taxpayers’ expense for the various unemployment measures, the total is minor disturbance considering what the taxpayer gives [and has given since 2008] to corporations and what the Federal Reserve Bank slides to all the moneyed elite.
The other side of this money distribution is an attempt to keep the economy working by having consumers spending – you would note, Sir, that at present 31,3 million citizens of the USA are collecting some form of unemployment insurance [State or Federal about 50% each] so the consumer input is considerably large part of GDP {the data is from Zero hedge today]
JM
I annualized the amounts to make the idea more accessible.
Seems to me this is the quintessential “self licking ice cream cone.” The government is giving money away so people will spend it to stimulate the economy, which means jobs, which means the government can take it back in taxes.
Unemployment does run out in most states after a certain number of weeks, but remember the “99-ers?” Back during the last recession, Congress allowed “extended unemployment benefits” for up to 99 weeks. That is almost 2 years of being a public trust.
26 weeks is the current length you can collect UE in Georgia, at the state level. Anyone think that Pelosi wouldn’t have demanded that the federal $600 payments continue ad infinitum, had the negotiations not collapsed?
Just commenting about the job market. I believe that a massive number of jobs are gone forever. We have only recovered half of them and it’s going to take a long time to get back to where we were.
A large number of people will have to find different types of jobs. Some sectors are not going to recover such as business travel and the entire ecosystem related to it, restaurants, lodging, fast food. Ditto entertainment, movie theaters, sporting events, Disneyland style vacations. Even colleges are going to have to finally cut back.
There are new opportunities but it will take time to find them.
I’m not saying we should have excessive long term unemployment benefits but I also believe that people will stay unemployed because their old jobs are gone, cutting benefits will be less of a factor for them to get to work. The Charles Payne types get under my skin a bit, it’s easy to be an optimist when you are a FOX business NW talking head; your job is safe.
And that’s my ray of sunshine for today.
Christian J. Chuba,
” I believe that a massive number of jobs are gone forever.”
Isn’t it wonderful when state and local governments declare your employer “non-essential” and force them close, then restrict how those allowed to open may operate. That’s a great way to destroy futures. Government employees are exempted, of course.