Thousands of Ohioans are keeping a close eye on the courts for a resolution to a long-running legal battle.
This month, a Franklin County judge ordered the state to pay nearly a billion dollars in federal pandemic unemployment benefits that Governor Mike DeWine cancelled in 2021. The state is appealing the ruling, and 300,000 people are hoping to receive their share of the funds.
“The assistance was always, always intended to be temporary,” DeWine said at a May 2021 press conference announcing Ohio’s withdrawal from the Federal Pandemic Unemployment Compensation (FPUC) programme.
The federal government had been providing supplemental assistance to workers who had been laid off during the COVID-19 pandemic. By mid-2021, unemployed workers were receiving $300 in federal assistance per week.
The governor’s decision to end the programme in Ohio was hailed as a way to jumpstart the economy. Some applauded it, believing that the additional money was encouraging potential workers to stay at home.
Some Ohioans are still waiting for unemployment benefits, even as the state prepares to exit the federal aid programme.
“I don’t blame the individual because the government made a policy that said we’d pay you more not to work than to return to work,” said then-Lieutenant Governor John Husted.
To combat the spread of COVID-19, Ohio was one of the first states to close businesses and implement social distancing guidelines.
Ian Hoy stated that his life as a musician took a sudden turn towards uncertainty.
“We were done with anything that involved a large number of people. “So I lost thousands of dollars,” Hoy recalled.
In 2020, the Shaker Heights father found himself assisting his preschooler through remote learning. He made some money through his small business teaching online music lessons.
However, without a consistent income from live performances, he described unemployment benefits as a lifeline for his family.
“I was receiving just a small amount, but that helped because I didn’t have all the income sources I used to have,” he told me.
He explained that it took years for the performing arts to recover from pandemic restrictions, and that once the FPUC programme ended, returning to his previous work was not an option.
Others expressed concerns about a lack of adequate childcare or the contagious virus endangering vulnerable family members.
The outcry resulted in a class action lawsuit filed in July 2021.
Cleveland law firm files lawsuit to restore $300 in federal unemployment payments.
“Whether it was a vocational issue, a daycare issue, or an elder care issue, it wasn’t at all that they didn’t want to go back to work,” said Marc Dann, a former Ohio attorney general and plaintiff counsel.
According to the lawsuit, 300,000 people are owed $3,000 due to missed FPUC payments over a 10-week period. It claims Governor DeWine went beyond his authority when he denied federal aid.
On February 12, a Franklin County judge agreed and directed the governor to claim and distribute $900 million from the federal programme.
The state appealed the decision and filed an injunction with the 10th District Court of Appeals. In August 2021, the same court ruled that the governor is legally required to secure and distribute FPUC funds to eligible Ohioans.
The plaintiffs are urging the judge to uphold the ruling. Dann is also requesting that the state obtain the $900 million from the US Department of Labour and deposit it with the Franklin County Clerk of the Court of Common Pleas before federal lawmakers redistribute the funds.
“That money will be reappropriated by Congress to other purposes – probably a tax cut for rich people, on the backs of the working class people that we represent,” he told reporters.
He believes that distributing the funds to eligible Ohioans will boost the state’s economy and assist families still suffering from the pandemic’s effects.
“A lot of restaurants either went out of business – and we’ve seen that in Cleveland, a lot of restaurants closing,” Dann told reporters. “Many of those owners could use that $3,000 to get their businesses back on track. So, I believe it is clear that people’s economic challenges as a result of the pandemic have not been resolved.”
Hoy is now back at work, but he acknowledges that he and others would benefit from the additional money they believe they are owed.
“I represent small business owners, nonprofits, and unionised workers. “And I want the governor to know how hard we work,” he said.
A hearing on the governor’s motion for an injunction is set for Monday afternoon in Franklin County.
