Texas To Drop $300 Weekly Federal Boost To Unemployment

Texas, Indiana, and Oklahoma will end early the $300 weekly federal boost to state unemployment payments, as well as two other pandemic jobless benefits programs, according to the states' Republican governors -- joining 17 other GOP-led states in dropping the federal expanded benefits over the past two weeks.

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott sent a letter on Monday to the Department of Labor announcing that the state would withdraw from the federal programs on June 26.

"The Texas economy is booming and employers are hiring in communities throughout the state," Abbott said in a statement. "According to the Texas Workforce Commission, the number of job openings in Texas is almost identical to the number of Texans who are receiving unemployment benefits."

"There are nearly 60% more jobs open (and listed) in Texas today than there was in February 2020, the month before the Pandemic hit Texas," Abbott asserted, without counting the many jobs in industries typically not listed such as construction and restaurant service.

Abbott's office also alleged high levels of unemployment fraud among the filed claims, asserting that "TWC estimates that nearly 18% of all claims for unemployment benefits during the pandemic are confirmed or suspected to be fraudulent, which totals more than 800,000 claims, worth as much as $10.4 billion if all claims had been paid."

Democrats, meanwhile, decried the moves by the GOP governors.