The Maryland House of Delegates passed emergency legislation Thursday that would allow federal employees forced to work during a government shutdown to collect unemployment insurance from a state trust fund. The state must get a letter from the U.S. Department of Labor saying that the fund won’t jeopardize compliance with the federal unemployment program, lawmakers said. Any federal worker who draws benefits from the fund would have to reimburse the state once the federal government reopens and workers get back pay. Several states, including California, Vermont and New Mexico, told their labor agencies to extend unemployment benefits to federal employees who had to work without pay. State officials estimated that about 43,000 federal workers from Maryland were affected by the shutdown.

Source: Washington Post February 14, 2019 21:04 UTC