Two headlining cases, both related to the COVID-19 pandemic, come before the Ohio Supreme Court this week.
The long-awaited question of whether Gov. Mike DeWine had the authority to cut off $300 weekly checks to unemployed Ohioans before the federal COVID-19 relief that funded them ended comes to the Ohio Supreme Court justices on Wednesday.
Ohio was among two dozen states that stopped those checks before the federal program that paid for them ended last Labor Day. Some 200,000 Ohioans whose checks stopped last May could be affected by the decision.
Also on Wednesday, the court will hear a class-action lawsuit brought by Cedar Point season pass holders, who argue they are entitled to refunds since the park’s opening was delayed for two months by the pandemic. Cedar Fair, which also owns Kings Island, said the terms of season ticket passes allow it to adjust dates for the season without notice.
DeWine cut off the additional $300 in weekly federal assistance going to unemployed workers on June 26, 2021 more than two months prior to the end of the federal program.
The governor said companies around the state are having trouble finding workers to fill job openings and said the extra $300 a week going towards people who are unemployed is playing a role.
“In some cases, certainly discouraging people from going back at this point in time. The assistance was always, always intended to be temporary,” DeWine said during a pandemic press conference on May 13, 2021.
