District Judge To Rule On Lawsuit Seeking To Reinstate Oklahoma Federal Unemployment Benefits

A judge is expected to rule on a lawsuit that seeks to reinstate federal unemployment benefits in Oklahoma. 

Governor Kevin Stitt cut off payments months before the official expiration date in September. 

Oklahoma County district judge Anthony Bonner is expected to make a decision on this lawsuit by five Friday evening. 

Thirteen Oklahomans filed the lawsuit asking judge to overturn the order issued by Governor Kevin Stitt that ended federal unemployment benefits 3 months early, they are supposed to expire in September. 

They question the Governor's power to cut off the payments early. 

In place of those benefits, the state offered a one-time $1,200 payment over the summer to a maximum of 20 thousand people who returned to work. 

“The federal government has started creating an incentive to stay at home instead of getting back into the workforce,” Stitt said at a May press conference. 

The programs effected include: Federal Pandemic Unemployment Compensation, Pandemic Unemployment Assistance, Pandemic Emergency Unemployment and Mixed Earner Unemployment Compensation.