UPDATE: Ohio to end $300 weekly unemployment benefit tomorrow

Jun. 25—Ohio will stop participating in a federal pandemic compensation program that provides an extra $300 in unemployment each week tomorrow.

Gov. Mike DeWine first declared the state would do this in mid-May.

"When this program was put in place, it was a lifeline for many Americans at a time when the only weapon we had in fighting the virus was to slow it's spread through social distancing, masking and sanitization," DeWine said last month. "That is no longer the case. That is no longer our only tool in this fight. This assistance was always intended to be temporary."

The Ohio Department of Job and Family Services re-emphasized that message Friday.

"When this program was put in place, it was a lifeline for many Americans at a time when a vaccine wasn't available and jobs were scarce," said Matt Damschroder, interim director of that department. "This is no longer the case as we now have an abundant supply of vaccines and plenty of available jobs."

The thinking among advocates of the move is that ending the benefit spurs job searches among the unemployed. If benefits are too high, some people may be less inclined to look for work or accept job offers, according to that school of thought.

Employers have long told the Dayton Daily News that they have job openings they often cannot fill with qualified people.

"I truly believe that receiving a paycheck in return for actual work is incredibly important to an Individual as well as society," said Natalie Dunlevey, owner of Dayton-area credit card processing company National Processing Solutions. "Restaurant owners have suffered the greatest with the extra unemployment payments to individuals. In the long run these extra benefits hurt large and small businesses."

And there's another view: That ending benefits will unnecessarily harm some people.

"By cutting off these benefits to unemployed Ohioans, DeWine is not only dealing a cruel blow to families, he will hurt Ohio's economy by depriving businesses of nearly $1 billion in spending that won't happen now," Policy Matters Ohio Research Director Zach Schiller said this week.

Schiller points to research that shows that cutting off benefits early didn't push jobless rates down in other states.

"And this week's job report makes clear that Ohio's economy remains sluggish: The number of jobs is below where it was last November," he said.

Ohio lost more jobs last month than any other state, and it was the only state that saw its unemployment rate increase, according to recent preliminary data from two federal surveys from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.