MONTGOMERY COUNTY, Md. — A judge said he'll decide by 10 a.m. on Tuesday if thousands of unemployed Marylanders can keep receiving the extra federal unemployment benefits.
Lawyers for unemployed workers and the state argued their points in a hearing Monday, with the battle boiling down to the potential impact of the benefits on businesses and the economy versus the impact on workers.
Regardless of his ruling, Secretary of Labor Tiffany Robinson said at the hearing that the U.S. Department of Labor sent her an email requiring the state to give an extra 30 days notice in order to opt-out of the program. So, the benefits would continue through early August.
Gov. Larry Hogan tried to cut them off on July 3, citing a worker shortage, but the same judge issued a temporary restraining order to prevent that. The TRO expires on July 13, without a preliminary injunction from the judge.
As thousands wait to hear about the extra benefits, many are still struggling to get money from weeks, even months ago.
Tara McKinney, who lives in Germantown, lost her restaurant job at the start of the pandemic.
“I shouldn't have to choose between paying rent and putting food on my table for my son. He's six years old … And, you know, he sees me crying," McKinney said. "He sees me and says, you know, if I had money, I'd give it to you. So you can pay bills, and I just hate it because he shouldn't have to do that.”
McKinney and a Registered Behavior Technician in Prince George's County, Amber Mensah, are fighting to keep roofs over their babies' heads.
“I've really been calling every single time I'll keep talking to different people. And nobody does anything," Mensah said.
Robinson said the backlog is because the claim volume has been overwhelming, with up to 60,000 claims coming in a week compared to 2,000 tops pre-pandemic.
The state's lawyers again asserted that continuing the benefits will make the worker shortage worse, and claimants' lawyers said ending them will cripple families.
A representative from the U.S. Chamber of Commerce pointed to a recent poll of unemployed workers, saying one in six respondents are not actively seeking work.
The workers' lawyers criticized the sample size of about 500, with only a portion being from the northeast.
“We have been searching and if you're in the hospitality industry like me, the jobs are not worth it," McKinney said. "You're working for minimum wage.”
Some other reasons the survey cited for not going back is a fear of COVID-19, and a lack of accessible child care.
Another big issue the state's lawyers pointed to with federal claims, in particular, is fraud crimes, releasing a warning Monday about a scam they have seen circulating.