Parson Orders End to Some Pandemic Benefits

Saying that there’s a labor shortage across Missouri, Governor Mike Parson has issued a directive to the state Labor Department to end all federal pandemic-related unemployment benefits. Governor Parson tells Capitol reporters that businesses are struggling from labor shortages, which he says have resulted from excessive federal unemployment programs:

This will also impact pandemic emergency unemployment compensation. The governor says Missouri’s unemployment rate has dropped to four-point-two percent. Under Parson’s directive, the maximum unemployment checks in Missouri will decrease from 620-dollars to 320-dollars per week. House Democratic Leader Crystal Quade of Springfield is blasting Governor Parson’s directive, saying that applicants will respond if companies provide a livable wage.