Republicans want to limit unemployment benefits, but states say that would be difficult to implement

State leaders are warning of weeks or even months of delays in getting benefits to unemployed people under the Republican proposal.

It would slash the $600 weekly benefit boost for those left jobless because of the Coronavirus Pandemic. The older computer systems in many states that operates unemployment would need to be reprogrammed two times.

That could take time to implement.

In Florida, state Rep. Anna Eskamani, a Democrat from Orlando, said the state has not even gotten the original supplemental benefit to everyone entitled to it.

Meanwhile, New York had it’s own issue with getting unemployment benefits of any kind out to the millions who applied after the pandemic began.

Democrats want to simply bring back the $600 per week bonus that is expiring this week. They say that’s a way to keep families afloat during the pandemic.

Meanwhile, Republican say it’s too high and encourages people to not work. They want to cut the benefit by two-thirds, to $200 per week through September, then switch to a percentage of no more than 70% of what the person made before the pandemic.

It’s a debate that involves economic, ideological, and technological issues.

U.S. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer says the Economic Policy Institute found that cutting unemployment benefits to $200 per week would result in 3.4 million more layoffs.

“The economy crashes, people are hurt, they get kicked out of their homes, they can’t feed their kids,” Schumer said. “The Republican proposal on unemployment benefits, simply put, is unworkable. It will delay benefits for weeks if not months as we slide into a greater degree of recession.”