Six Louisiana residents have filed a lawsuit in East Baton Rouge alleging that the state’s termination of federal unemployment benefits in June was unlawful and urging the court to reinstate them.
The complaint filed July 30 in the 19th Judicial Court seeks an injunction against Act 276, which was signed into law by Gov. John Bel Edwards on June 16. The measure ceases the state’s participation in the federal government’s supplemental jobless benefits program, amounting to $300 per week for those who qualify.
The lawsuit argues the rapid rise of COVID-19 cases in the state over the past several weeks make the jobless benefits even more crucial.
New Orleans attorney Wendy Manard represents the six plaintiffs.
“Louisiana currently has the fastest-growing covid cases in the country at the time of this filing,” the complaint states. “... Louisiana is also the second poorest state in the country. Of all the states in the country, Louisiana is the last state that should be walking away from $220 million in federal benefits right now.”
New Orleans attorney Wendy Manard, who represents the plaintiffs, said the state is in a totally different place than where it was when the governor signed the legislation. The current spread of the virus as schoolchildren return to the classroom is particularly worrisome, Manard said.
“What’s really crucial is kids are going back to school this week, and hundreds of thousands of them are unvaccinated because they’re under the age of 12,” she told the Louisiana Record. “And so we’re going to have this huge covid spike, even more than we already have.”
Not only children who contract COVID-19 will have to quarantine at home, Manard said, but so will unvaccinated children who have been exposed to children who test positive for COVID-19. In turn, parents will have to stay home with their children and won’t be able to work.
“This is the worst time to stop those federal benefits,” she said.
About 25 other states are accepting the additional jobless benefits, according to Manard.
“In effect, Louisiana residents’ federal tax dollars are helping people in other states, but they’re not helping people in Louisiana,” she said.
The complaint argues that the actions of the governor and the Louisiana Workplace Commission violate the Louisiana Employment Security Law, as well as the due-process and equal-protection rights of the plaintiffs.
The court has denied the plaintiffs' request for a temporary restraining order, but a hearing on a possible injunction is set for Aug. 12, Manard said.