Gov. Asa Hutchinson overstepped his authority when he ended federally funded pandemic unemployment supplements that can pay out-of-work job seekers an extra $300 a week, according to a lawsuit filed Friday that calls on Pulaski County Circuit Judge Herb Wright to order the payments to resume.
The Republican governor’s decision to withdraw Arkansas last month from federal unemployment payments established as a response to covid-related joblessness cut off 68,853 Arkansas residents from “life-sustaining benefits for which they otherwise qualified,” according to the 19-page lawsuit brought by Legal Aid attorneys Kevin De Liban, Jaden Atkins, Nikki Clark, Christina Cole and Victoria Frazier on behalf of five unemployed Arkansas residents.
Of that number, 48,496 Arkansans, or about 70%, lost all benefits. The remaining 20,357 continued to receive standard unemployment but lost the weekly $300 supplement, according to the suit.
Warning that their clients’ health is at risk, the lawyers want the judge to order the state to take all actions necessary to rejoin the program and seek any possible retroactive benefits that their clients might be entitled to receive.
The benefits come from Social Security through three programs: Pandemic Unemployment Assistance, Federal Pandemic Unemployment Compensation and Pandemic Emergency Unemployment Compensation.
Hutchinson announced on May 7 that Arkansas would drop out of the program at the end of June, even though another 10 weeks of benefits were available.
The lawsuit accuses Hutchinson of illegally terminating the program on June 26 under the standards set by Arkansas Code 11-10-312, which requires the government to “cooperate with the United States Department of Labor to the fullest extent” on unemployment benefits.
The litigation further states that Hutchinson’s decision violated the separation of powers doctrine of the state Constitution because the 11-10-312 statute restricts Hutchinson’s authority to control unemployment benefits, which are managed by the Division of Workforce Services.
In a letter to Charisse Childers, Workforce Services director, the Republican governor described Arkansas’ economy as being in rapid rebound, with state revenue rising higher than predictions and businesses expanding. He said the extra payments were actually causing employers to have a difficult time finding willing workers.
In a statement released by his office in May, Hutchinson said that the federal supplement helped thousands of Arkansans "make it through this tough time," but that "now we need Arkansans back on the job so that we can get our economy back to full speed."
The plaintiffs are five unemployed Arkansas residents who have been looking for work but can’t find it, according to the suit.