ARKANSAS, USA — A lawsuit has been filed against Arkansas Governor Asa Hutchinson and the Arkansas Division of Workforce Services for prematurely ending pandemic unemployment assistance programs 10 weeks before they expired.
Attorneys at Legal Aid of Arkansas, a nonprofit that provides free legal assistance to low-income Arkansans, filed the lawsuit.
According to a preliminary statement in the court documents, Gov. Hutchinson ordered the division of workforce services to voluntarily terminate several pandemic-related unemployment programs 10 weeks before the programs were set to expire, impacting nearly 70,000 Arkansans.
Legal Aid of Arkansas says that if they win the lawsuit, the state should reinstate benefits for everyone, including the extra $300 weekly unemployment payments.
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