Oklahoma could ask the federal government to stop giving unemployed workers here the $600 a month unemployment stimulus, or halt benefits altogether for workers who don’t go back to work when the economy opens up.
The ordinance infringes on the residents’ First Amendment right to assembly, the Fourteenth Amendment’s equal protection and due process clauses, the Commerce Clause of the U.S. Constitution, as well as state laws and constitutional protections, the lawsuit alleges.
Though a video of Tuesday’s meeting was initially posted on the Oklahoma Water Resources Board’s Facebook page, the video was later removed from the agency’s page.
Oklahoma Secretary of Commerce and Workforce Development Sean Kouplen said there is currently a “healthy tug-of-war” in Gov. Kevin Stitt’s administration between businesspeople, who want the state to reopen immediately, and the health experts who say to wait.
“The numbers are so stunning, there’s nothing to compare it with historically. I just wouldn’t feel safe to characterize it as this is high as it’s going to go,” said Lynn Gray, economic research and analysis director for OESC.
There have been at least 51 deaths in Oklahoma so far connected to the novel coronavirus, but Sauz’s death is an outlier — he was 22 years old, not in an age group considered most susceptible to the fatal effects of the virus.
The craft store chain announced it was ending emergency leave pay for employees and suspending the use of company-provided paid time off benefits during the furloughs in order “to allow our furloughed employees” to take full advantage of the pandemic unemployment benefits.
Oklahoma Secretary of Commerce and Workforce Development Sean Kouplen warned some employers may face difficulty rehiring lower-wage workers, since an upcoming increase in unemployment benefits could mean a significant income bump.
