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NY will not extend federal pandemic unemployment programs
Jeff Preval is reporting for WGRZ-TV the state of New York will not extend federal pandemic unemployment programs that expired this past weekend. Gov. Kathy Hochul said the state's unemployment insurance trust fund currently has a deficit of $11 billion as many employers continue to need help filling jobs and many New Yorkers remain unemployed. Even though the federal programs have expired, states are permitted to extend unemployment programs, according to the CARES Act. However, that will not happen in New York. Hochul said during a briefing Sunday about the Hurricane Ida cleanup, "What we determined was that the federal government has to okay allocations to us and secondly because our unemployment system was so overtaxed last year and a half that we now have an $11 billion deficit [unemployment insurance trust fund deficit] and the state law does not allow us any increases in resources as long as there is a deficit," Hochul said. The governor said she is instead focused on job retraining for the unemployed. Hochul said that she is looking for a detailed analysis on when the hospitality industry in Buffalo and other regions will come back. Read the full story at WGRZ [dot] com.