This Saturday, out-of-work Floridians will no longer be able to collect federal unemployment checks, after Gov. Ron DeSantis decided to cut off the benefits early in an effort to help businesses start hiring again.
Florida is one of 26 states, most of which are led by Republican governors, that opted to stop participating in the federal unemployment program months ahead of its Sept. 6 expiration date.
For Floridians who manage to get through the Department of Economic Opportunity’s CONNECT website, that means the most they’ll be able to collect is $275 per week in state benefits, which equates to about $6.87 per hour and is among the lowest payouts in the country. Recently, DeSantis also reinstated the requirement for people to apply to five jobs per week to stay on unemployment, as well as severing ties with the remaining call centers that had been fielding calls from claimants.
