ANNAPOLIS, Md. — Maryland Governor Larry Hogan announced Tuesday that the state will discontinue enhanced pandemic federal unemployment benefits and reinstate work search requirements early next month.
The benefits, according to Hogan, will be discontinued starting Saturday, July 3. Tuesday's announcement regarding benefits being discontinued comes as the governor sites the positive economic recovery across Maryland.
“Our health and economic recovery continues to outpace the nation, and we have reached the benchmark set by President Biden of vaccinating 70% of adults,” Hogan said in a statement to WUSA9. “While these federal programs provided important temporary relief, vaccines and jobs are now in good supply. And we have a critical problem where businesses across our state are trying to hire more people, but many are facing severe worker shortages. After 12 consecutive months of job growth, we look forward to getting more Marylanders back to work.”
According to Hogan, as of Tuesday, 24 states have announced that they will discontinue enhanced pandemic federal unemployment benefits. In recent U.S. Department of Labor data, there are a record 8.1 million job openings nationwide.
The discontinuance of benefits includes the following, effective July 3:
- Federal Unemployment Compensation, providing $300 of additional income per week
- Mixed Earners Unemployment Compensation
- Pandemic Emergency Unemployment Compensation
- Pandemic Unemployment Assistance
Applicants will no longer be able to apply for federal programs after the end of the day on July 3. The Department of Labor said they will make sure applicants receive all payments owed to them for the weeks before the deadline of July 3.
If applicants are waiting to receive an eligibility determination for any of these four federal programs, the department said will ensure that they receive all payments owed to them for all weeks prior to July 3 that they are determined eligible for.
Beginning July 4, Marylanders who are receiving the benefits will need to engage in three re-employment activities each week – which might include submitting job applications through Maryland Workforce Exchange, attending a job fair, participating and finishing a workshop at an American Job Center, Hogan said.
“As our state continues to make great progress in its economic recovery, employers are successfully reopening for business and creating job opportunities,” Labor Secretary Tiffany P. Robinson said. “Our team is available to connect job seekers with a wide variety of training programs and resources, so they can find meaningful employment and return to the workforce.”
Since March 2020, the State of Maryland has paid out more than $12.3 billion in unemployment benefits to 730,759 recipients, resolving more than 97% of claims.