Last week, the Indiana Court of Appeals reversed a lower court’s ruling (by a 3-0 vote) that required Gov. Eric Holcomb and the Department of Workforce Development (DWD) to reinstate federal pandemic unemployment benefits. The administration had ended the additional benefits on June 19. As a result, a lawsuit was filed by Concerned Clergy of Indianapolis and a trial judge issued a preliminary injunction requiring the benefits to continue.
In the Appeals Court decision, Judge Kirsch stated, “Because we find that Indiana Code section 22-4-37-1 does not require participation in the CARES Act programs, the state’s decision to terminate the benefits did not violate the statute. We, therefore, conclude that plaintiffs have not shown a reasonable likelihood of success at trial…”
Holcomb commented, “I want to thank the Court of Appeals on its ruling to reverse the trial court’s decision on unemployment benefits. The state took the appropriate steps to terminate its participation in these optional federal pandemic unemployment programs and this ruling confirms that we had the legal authority to do so.”
Although it appears to be a win for the governor, DWD has confirmed that the benefits will still be paid through Sept. 4 when the federal benefits are set to end. This is because the state must give a 30-day notice before discontinuing the benefits. If the federal government were to extend the program, the state would no longer have to maintain the additional benefit payments.
The Indiana Chamber had been supportive of Gov. Holcomb’s decision and lobbied to end the additional benefits. Indiana Chamber members believed that the additional benefits on top of the normal unemployment insurance compensation was creating a difficult environment in which to attract workers to fill existing positions.
Mike Ripley is vice president of health care policy & employment law for the Indiana Chamber. He has been with the organization for 13 years and previously was a longtime state legislator in northeast Indiana.
