JEFFERSON CITY, MO. – Governor Parson pulled Missouri out of an agreement to continue to fund the federal unemployment benefits last month, despite $770 million in federal funding still available to our state. Tomorrow we will see the consequences of this shortsighted decision.

The American Rescue Plan extended the program through September 6th. Yet, after June 12th, 2021, federal unemployment benefits checks will cease in Missouri for 147,000 workers, the first state to do so in the country. Currently, the payments are $363 weekly.

Executive Director of the Missouri Democratic Party Randy Dunn released the following statement on the reckless end to federal unemployment benefits:

“The Republican decision to withhold extra federal unemployment benefits that nearly 150,000 Missouri workers are entitled to is just wrong. This costs the state absolutely nothing. The federal government has already set aside this money and the governor is just walking away from it, walking away from the Missouri people. The pandemic has highlighted the disparities in our economy and this decision will send our working families backward. The President extended the federal unemployment benefits to September 6th for a reason.”