Gov. Kemp announces plan for Georgia to discontinue participation in federal unemployment subsidy

Governor Brian Kemp announced on Thursday that the state will no longer participate in the federal subsidy on unemployment.

In an interview to Fox News, Kemp said the extra $300-a-week federal supplement to unemployed workers in Georgia will end in June.

He says, “We’re not going to be participating in the federal subsidy any longer…That’s going to be mid to late June we’re working with the Labor Commissioner and we’ll have some more details coming out, but we are going to end that participation.”

Kemp says small business owners and the people working for those businesses are struggling due to unemployed residents refusing to rejoin the workforce.

As WNEG News reported on Thursday, the Toccoa City Commission recently penned a letter urging Kemp to end the subsidy due to several local businesses having to reduce their hours because of a shortage of workers.

To date, Alabama, Arkansas, Mississippi, Montana and South Carolina have all withdrawn from the $300-a-week federal assistance.

WNEG News will continue to follow this story and bring you updates as they become available.