Trump and Republicans just cut struggling Minnesotans’ incomes.

How?

They failed to extend emergency unemployment benefits. 

The benefits were authorized by Congress in the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security (CARES) Act, which was signed into law on March 27. Under the law, unemployed Minnesotans received an extra $600 in addition to their regular unemployment benefits. This extra income has been helping people who lost their jobs because of the pandemic to pay bills and support their families.

Getting rid of these benefits in the middle of the coronavirus pandemic is one of the worst things Trump and Republicans could do.

Because of the pandemic, hundreds of thousands of Minnesotans are struggling to find jobs and support their families. And now, Trump and Republicans have taken away what little income many working families have to get by. 

In fact, starting in August, 386,000 Minnesotans will lose 45% of their weekly income. This loss will impact Black Minnesotans the hardest. Nearly one in two Black workers in Minnesota have applied for unemployment benefits since mid-March. For white workers, it is about one in four.

Trump and Republicans’ failure to extend emergency unemployment benefits is also expected to lead to even more people relying on food shelves. Statewide, food shelf visits increased by 8.5 percent, or about 130,000 visits, from January to May compared to the same time last year.

Trump and Republicans once again failed to act. And it will only make this economic crisis longer and more painful for Minnesota families than it already has been.