Hi folks, it's Mike again.

One week from today, the pandemic unemployment benefits provided to workers through the CARES Act are set to expire. 

That means unemployed Americans will no longer receive the additional $600 per week payments they’ve been relying on to make ends meet during this pandemic.

In Mississippi, the situation has never been more urgent. Mississippians have the lowest unemployment payments in the country. And those in our state have been dealing with an antiquated system — meaning thousands of workers in Mississippi have never been able to receive benefits despite being out of work for months.

Our leaders in Washington D.C. have had plenty of time to prevent this, all summer in fact. But when a reporter asked him if the Senate would pass a new relief bill before these unemployment benefits expire, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell simply laughed. And Senator Cindy Hyde-Smith said she would “put the breaks on” further relief while hundreds of thousands of Mississippians were out of work. 

Well, I sure hope Mitch McConnell and Cindy Hyde-Smith enjoyed their summer vacations while hard-working Americans have been getting sick, going hungry, losing their jobs, and going broke. They are turning their backs on Mississippians everywhere by refusing to pass more financial relief for those hit hardest by this historic financial crisis. That’s why it’s on us to put pressure on them to act before it’s too late.

Sign my petition demanding the Senate extend supplemental unemployment assistance to the millions of Americans forced out of work due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Together, let’s demand more from those in power during this unprecedented crisis. Millions of workers and their families are counting on it.

– Mike Espy