INDIANAPOLIS, IN — The Indiana Department of Workforce Development hasn’t decided how to continue payment of federal unemployment benefits, after a judge’s ruling last week which said the state must restart the extra $300 weekly payments to unemployed workers.

As of Wednesday it was not known when or if the agency has plans for the the state to rejoin the programs that expanded unemployment benefits during the COVID-19 pandemic. It could still be nearly three weeks before a judge rules on Governor Eric Holcomb’s appeal to drop the Hoosier state from the national programs before they’re scheduled to end on September 6th.

Attorneys for the state maintain Indiana can’t continue paying out the benefits because the state has already ended its agreement with the federal government to administer the federal programs.
The state also argued that Indiana would not have time to withdraw from the federal programs again should the appeals court rule in the state’s favor.