New York will not pay to extend COVID-19 unemployment benefits for the 1.6 million state residents receiving them when the related federal programs expire at the end of Sunday, Gov. Kathy Hochul said.
Speaking at an unrelated press conference in Manhattan, Hochul claimed to have her hands tied by both federal regulations and state law, which she said prohibit allocating additional funds while the state is still running a deficit.
“Our unemployment system was so overtaxed last year and a half that we now have an $11 billion deficit, and the state law does not allow us to allocate any increase in resources as long as there is a deficit,” Hochul said.