South Dakota is the first state to decline President Donald Trump's executive order to restart the coronavirus unemployment bonus at a rate of up to $400 per week, The Washington Post reported.
Republican Gov. Kristi Noem, a rising star in the party, declined the bonus payments for those unemployed in her state because it never shut down during the global coronavirus pandemic.
"My administration is very grateful for the additional flexibility that this effort would have provided, but South Dakota is in the fortunate position of not needing to accept it," Noem said.
Trump's order diverted unused funds from federal disaster assistance to restart the $600 bonus payments for the unemployed that expired at the end of July. Of the $400 in the executive order, $300 would be provided by the U.S. Treasury, with the state on the hook for the rest.
Republicans had argued even though they passed it in March, the $600 payment would have served to encourage many Americans not to work, because they would get more money than if they returned to work.
South Dakota's insured jobless rate of around 3.5% is the lowest in the nation, according to the Post. They have recently gone over 10,000 COVID-19 infections, which is also one of the lowest in the nation.
"If you're an unemployed person in South Dakota, it's not going to matter to you. There aren't a lot of unemployed people," National Employment Law Center's Michele Evermore told the Post.