Gov. Newsom says 'no money in the piggy bank' to fund Trump's $400 weekly unemployment order By Josh Haskell and Alix Martichoux Monday, August 10, 2020 8:14PM
SACRAMENTO -- California is strapped for cash and Gov. Gavin Newsom made that point clear at the top of his press conference Monday on the coronavirus pandemic.
President Donald Trump announced an executive order Saturday that extends additional unemployment payments of up to $400 a week to help cushion the economic fallout of the pandemic. But under Trump's plan, the $400 a week requires a state to commit to providing $100.
Coming up with 25% of the funding would require significant cuts elsewhere, Newsom said, as funding from the prior CARES Act has all but run out.
"There is no money sitting in the piggy bank of the previous CARES Act to be reprioritized or reconstituted for this purpose," the governor said. "Simply, it does not exist."
Paying 25% of the new round of unemployment benefits would cost California an estimated $700 million a week, as the state reckons with unemployment and underemployment figures not seen since the Great Depression.