PHOENIX β Gov. Doug Ducey said the state won't make up the money that Arizona's unemployed will lose when the extra federal benefits dry up.
Ducey said Thursday he is counting on Congress to come up with some sort of resolution to the stalemate that makes this week the last the people will get an extra $600 a week. But he could not say how quickly that will occur.
On a more practical note, the state does not have the kind of money it would take to backfill the loss of federal dollars on any sustained basis.
Assuming there are currently 250,000 Arizonans collecting regular benefits, making up that $600 a week would run the state more than $150 million a week.
But without congressional or state action, that reduces weekly payments to no more than $240, the maximum allowed by state law, a figure that has not been altered since 2004. Only Mississippi pays less.
And that is likely to put a strain on not just those who have bills but result in a potential hit to the state economy.
