巴尔的摩的一名法官关闭了马里兰州州长拉里·霍根(Larry Hogan)为早日结束大流行失业救济所做的努力。
巴尔的摩巡回法院的劳伦斯·p·弗莱彻-希尔法官发布了初步禁令周二下令立即采取行动，确保马里兰州居民继续通过联邦计划获得“任何和所有”扩大的失业福利。
这一法律行动是对6月初宣布的质疑霍根决定的多起案件的回应。这位共和党州长当时表示，许多企业正面临“严重的工人短缺”，“我们期待让更多的马里兰人重返工作岗位。”
弗莱彻-希尔写道，原告证明，如果不发布禁令，他们“将遭受不可挽回的伤害”，并表明发布禁令“符合公共利益。”
联邦大流行失业救济包括每周额外300美元，并扩大资格，允许更多以前可能没有资格的人(如独立承包商)获得失业援助。得到支持的联邦失业保险计划将持续到9月初，尽管霍根试图在7月份取消这些计划。
许多州也同样寻求削减强化的联邦失业救济计划。包括霍根在内的许多共和党州长认为，随着经济开始从大流行引发的衰退中反弹，这些好处正在阻止人们寻找工作。随着许多企业同时重新开业，餐饮业劳动力明显短缺，这也让一些雇主难以找到员工。
许多经济学家驳斥了这一论点失业救济金的增加阻碍了人们的工作。低招聘人数也引发了关于低工资的辩论在服务业。
霍根办公室的发言人周三没有立即回应美国广播公司新闻的置评请求，但告诉巴尔的摩太阳报州长不会质疑这个决定。
“虽然我们坚信法律是站在我们这边的，但对该案的实际裁决将超出联邦项目的结束，放弃进一步追查此事的可能性，”霍根的通信主管迈克尔·里奇告诉当地媒体。
Judge blocks Maryland governor from ending federal unemployment benefits early
A Baltimore judge has shut down efforts by Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan to put an early end to enhanced pandemic unemployment benefits.
Judge Lawrence P. Fletcher-Hill of the Circuit Court for Baltimore issued apreliminary injunctionTuesday ordering that immediate action be taken to ensure Maryland residents continue to receive "any and all" expanded unemployment benefits available to them through federal programs.
The legal action came in response to multiple cases challenging Hogan's decision, which was announced in early June. The Republican governor said at the time that many businesses were facing "severe worker shortages" and "we look forward to getting more Marylanders back to work."
Fletcher-Hill wrote the plaintiffs demonstrated that they "will suffer irreparable harm" if the injunction was not issued, and have shown that the issuance of it "is in the public interest."
Federal pandemic unemployment benefits include an extra $300 a week and also expand eligibility to allow more people who may not have previously qualified (such as independent contractors) to receive jobless aid. The bolstered federal unemployment insurance programs were set to last through early September, though Hogan sought to cut them off in July.
A slew of states have similarly sought to curtail the enhanced federal unemployment benefits programs. Many Republican governors, including Hogan, have argued these benefits are dissuading people from seeking work as the economy begins to bounce back from the pandemic-induced downturn. An apparent labor shortage in the restaurant industry as many businesses reopen at once has also left some employers struggling to find staff.
Manyeconomists have refuted the argumentthat enhanced unemployment benefits are preventing people from working. Low hiring numbers have also sparked adebate about dismal wagesin the service industry.
A spokesperson for Hogan's office did not immediately respond to ABC News' request for comment Wednesday, buttold The Baltimore Sunthat the governor won't challenge the decision.
"While we firmly believe the law is on our side, actual adjudication of the case would extend beyond the end of the federal programs, foregoing the possibility of pursuing the matter further," Michael Ricci, Hogan’s director of communications, told the local outlet.
