Jobless Oklahomans just won back unemployment benefits - at least the 3rd GOP-governed state where that's happened
- On Friday, an Oklahoma judge granted a preliminary injunction to restore federal jobless benefits.
- Unemployed Oklahomans had sued the state for canceling the federal $300 per week before September.
- It's the latest victory in a string of states where jobless workers have sued to preserve benefits.
Jobless workers in Oklahoma are the latest group to win back their federal unemployment benefits, marking yet another victory in favor of workers cut off by their governors.
On Friday, The Oklahoman reported that Judge Anthony L. Bonner Jr. had granted a preliminary injunction obligating the state to continue paying out federal benefits as the case proceeds.
On Monday evening, Judge Bonner released his official order and findings, writing that "a loss or inability to secure appropriate housing, medical care, food, etc., would amount to irreparable harm."
The injunction will impact approximately 70,00 workers who were receiving a collective $400 million prior to benefits being cut off, according to an estimate from Andrew Stettner, a senior fellow and jobless policy expert at the left-leaning Century Foundation.
Oklahoma is one of several states that opted to end all federal unemployment benefits, not just the additional $300 weekly. The state opted out of Pandemic Unemployment Assistance (PUA), which extended eligibility to gig workers and self-employed workers, as well as Pandemic Emergency Unemployment Compensation (PEUC), which expanded how long workers could receive benefits for.
When the state cut off benefits on June 27, workers on standard unemployment benefits lost their $300 a week. Workers receiving benefits through PUA and PEUC lost benefits completely.
In the preliminary petition, the attorneys detail the impact that the end of benefits had on their plaintiffs. One of them, a 53-year-old Arby's worker, had to leave her role over doctor's orders, since her preexisting conditions could have made a COVID-19 case more severe.
It's the latest state where workers have won back their benefits
Jobless Oklahomans join workers in Indiana and Maryland in temporarily winning back their benefits through preliminary injunctions. Workers in all three argued that state laws require that the state distribute all unemployment benefits granted to them - including the federal benefits conferred by the CARES Act.
It's another win for workers as these cases proceed and head towards final rulings. But not all workers are winning their cases just yet: Lawsuits in Ohio and Arkansas - which initially won back benefits - haven't proven as successful. In Ohio, a judge ruled against reinstating the $300 per week, but the law firms that brought that case are appealing. In Arkansas, the legislature voted to end the benefits early, after a judge temporarily restored them and directed the final decision to the legislature.
The victory in Oklahoma comes ahead of the September 6 expiration of all federal unemployment benefits. As a result, 7.5 million Americans are projected to lose all of their unemployment benefits, according to a report by Stettner.
Some experts and politicians have said that's too early for benefits to end, especially with the rise of the Delta variant, but Secretary of Labor Marty Walsh told Insider it's too early to decide whether they should be extended. Key Democratic moderate Sen. Joe Manchin told Insider's Joseph Zeballos-Roig that he doesn't back an extension of that aid.