state\u2019s Fiscal Year 2026 Enacted Budget,<\/a> which was completed and announced in May. With the state paying off the federal unemployment loan, it will move to raise the cap on unemployment benefits from $504 per week to $869 per week, a change set to go into effect in October.<\/p>\nThe increase of over 72% is the largest increase of the unemployment cap in state history, said HTC President Rich Maroko at Monday\u2019s announcement.\n<\/p>\n
\u201cThese are really tough times for our people, and when we can do something like this, it sends a message that we care so deeply about every stress that people are going through, especially the high cost of living,\u201d Hochul told the group of union members at the Monday rally. \u201cIt is oppressive, it is so discouraging, because you work hard.\u201d<\/p>\n
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The Hotel Trades Council says that hotel workers and employees in other seasonal industries are more vulnerable to layoffs in the off-season than workers in more year-round industries.Susan Watts\/Office of Governor Kathy Hochul<\/p>\n
The $504 weekly unemployment cap has been in place since 2019, losing value over time as laid-off workers in New York combat inflation and a rapidly increasing cost of living.<\/p>\n
Hochul discussed the legislation alongside state Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins, Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie and State Department of Labor Commissioner Roberta Reardon. The goal of the legislation is \u201cputting money back into New Yorkers\u2019 pockets\u201d amid rising costs, Hochul said.<\/p>\n
The new legislation also reduces the benefits delay for striking workers from three weeks to two weeks, giving greater leeway for union workers striking for better pay. The HTC\u2019s industry-wide contract expires at the end of Fiscal Year 2026, in exactly one year.<\/p>\n
\u201cAt its core, the fundamental purpose of the unemployment insurance system is to provide a safety net,\u201d Maroko said at Wednesday\u2019s event. \u201cIt\u2019s a safety net that\u2019s supposed to catch workers who lose their jobs and provide to them short-term benefits that are at least enough for them to be able to keep their heads above water during that difficult period between jobs.\u201d<\/p>\n
Maroko noted that hotel workers and employees in other seasonal industries are more vulnerable to layoffs in the off-season than workers in more year-round industries. The current benefit cap of $504 per week \u201cdoesn\u2019t even cover rent, much less the other basic necessities like groceries and utilities and healthcare,\u201d Maroko said.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe elected leaders standing here with me, they recognized that problem, and they fixed it,\u201d Maroko said.\u00a0\n<\/p>\n
In paying off the federal loan, the state is alleviating some financial pressure from business owners whose contribution rates had increased while the debt was being paid off. The legislation puts a greater onus on the state to directly support laid-off workers. The new budget also includes a middle-class tax rate cut, an inflation rebate, and a child tax credit for New York families.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe have been laser-focused on affordability, and we\u2019re just getting warmed up,\u201d Hochul said.\u00a0\n<\/p>\n
The new budget goes into effect Tuesday, the first day of fiscal year 2026.\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Gov. Kathy Hochul joined HTC President Rich Maroko Monday to celebrate the passage of a raise in state…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":28724,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5122],"tags":[5229,24670,8771,24671,5371,405,403,5226,5225,5228,5227,24672,24673,766,24674,24675,67,586,132,5230,68,2969],"class_list":{"0":"post-28723","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-new-york","8":"tag-america","9":"tag-federal-loan","10":"tag-hochul","11":"tag-htc-president-rich-maroko","12":"tag-kathy-hochul","13":"tag-new-york","14":"tag-new-york-city","15":"tag-newyork","16":"tag-newyorkcity","17":"tag-ny","18":"tag-nyc","19":"tag-pm-newsletter","20":"tag-rich-maroko","21":"tag-unemployment","22":"tag-unemployment-benefits","23":"tag-unemployment-insurance","24":"tag-united-states","25":"tag-united-states-of-america","26":"tag-unitedstates","27":"tag-unitedstatesofamerica","28":"tag-us","29":"tag-usa"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/114775657684560182","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28723","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=28723"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28723\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/28724"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=28723"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=28723"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=28723"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
![\"Woman](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/54623315302_74ac3034ad_k.jpg\" "\\"New")
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