An appeals court ruled in favor of Ohioans seeking federal unemployment benefits that Gov. Mike DeWine cut off early during the COVID-19 pandemic.The judges ruled that it’s not impossible to reinstate the nearly $900 million in benefits, even if the DeWine administration thinks it’s unlikely Ohioans will see that money.The Tenth District Court of Appeals’ June 30 ruling frees up a Franklin County judge to order Ohio to ask for the cut-off benefits.“This decision is a victory for the rule of law and for the thousands of Ohioans who continue to struggle with the economic fallout of COVID-19,” said attorney Marc Dann, who brought the case.During the initial months of the COVID-19 pandemic, Congress approved an additional $300 per week for unemployed people. But DeWine, a Republican, stopped that program 10 weeks earlier than the September 2021 end date, forgoing about $900 million in benefits.Unemployed Ohioans like Candy Bowling sued, saying DeWine didn’t have the power to cut off benefits early. After years of legal wrangling, a local judge said Ohio should ask President Donald Trump’s administration for the money to dole out to Ohioans.”Governor DeWine provides various reasons as to why it is unlikely that Bowling will ever recover the FPUC (federal unemployment) funds, but none of those reasons establish that recovery is impossible,” wrote Judge Shawn Dingus in a decision joined by Judges Laurel Beatty Blunt and Carly Edelstein.DeWine’s attorneys had argued that Ohio didn’t have to ask the federal government for those unemployment benefits because the Ohio Supreme Court ruled the issue was moot. It’s not clear whether the U.S. Department of Labor would reinstate them.”We don’t know what the Department of Labor will or won’t do with respect to reenrollment,” Assistant Attorney General Ann Yackshaw said during a hearing. “This case remains pending because the trial court was unwilling to follow the Supreme Court’s decision.”But Dann contends DeWine has to help Ohioans “unjustly denied critical pandemic relief.” Dann is a former Ohio attorney general who resigned in 2008 amid a sexual harassment scandal.Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost’s office is reviewing the ruling and determining next steps, a spokesman said.This article was updated to add comment.State government reporter Jessie Balmert can be reached at jbalmert@gannett.com or @jbalmert on X.
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