ORLANDO, Fla. — Defying expectations of signing a $900 billion COVID-19 relief bill, President Donald Trump added further complications and delays to aid by announcing he wants more in stimulus funding for American families.

Indirectly threatening to veto the measure, the president is casting doubt on when, or if, stimulus, extended unemployment benefits, and other aid will be approved and ultimately passed on to Americans.

Existing federal unemployment benefits approved during the March passage of the CARES Act expire on December 26.

“Congress found plenty of money for foreign countries, lobbyists, and special interest while sending the bare minimum to American people who need it, it wasn’t their fault,” Trump said in a recorded video message posted Tuesday night on Twitter. “I’m asking Congress to amend this bill and increase the ridiculously low $600 to $2,000, or $4,000 for a couple.”

After months of on-again and off-again negotiations, Congress passed a $900 billion stimulus package late Monday night.

The relief bill is separate from a $1.4 trillion omnibus spending bill passed the same night which included billions in foreign aid to which the president referred to in his Twitter video.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D) and Senator Lindsey Graham (R) are among the list of lawmakers supporting increasing stimulus aid to $2,000 per individual, although it’s unclear whether there’s enough Republicans support in the Senate, where there are enough votes to override any presidential veto.

Caught up in the delay are billions of dollars for small business loans ($284 billion), food assistance programs ($39 billion), funding for vaccine distribution and research ($69 billion), housing assistance ($25 billion), and extending unemployment benefits ($120 billion).

It’s estimated more than 20 million Americans are currently receiving some form of unemployment assistance. According to the Florida Department of Economic Opportunity’s Jobs Dashboard, more than 2 million Floridians have received shares of nearly $20 billion in state and federal unemployment aid.

With only $275 per week for 12 weeks, most Floridians have long run out of state aid, thus relying heavily on the various federal supplemental programs.

• RELATED: GAO Report: States Short Changing Unemployment Recipients

The last remaining federal unemployment aid program, Pandemic Unemployment Assistance (PUA), is scheduled to expire Saturday, December 26.

The latest COVID-19 relief bill would renew federal unemployment assistance, providing $300 per week for up to 11 weeks, until March 14, 2021.

While Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin told reporters this week that stimulus checks could go out as early as next week, unemployment aid is likely to take longer.

Paige Landrum, Press Secretary for Florida Department of Economic Opportunity, told Spectrum News the agency is “…monitoring closely to see what is passed at the federal level and will await federal implementing guidance from the U.S. Department of Labor.”

It is not clear yet how quickly DEO will be able to process claims and distribute the new round of funding, nor is it known whether individuals will have to reapply or if claims will be automatically enrolled for extended benefits.

When asked whether DEO would be able to utilize its existing system to process claims and distribute funds, Landrum told Spectrum News again that the agency is awaiting guidance from the U.S. Department of Labor.

When Congress passed the CARES Act in March, some of the federal benefits were not immediately available.

Trump signed the CARES Act into law on March 25, 2020, however the Florida DEO did not begin accepting claims for Pandemic Unemployment Assistance (PUA) funds until nearly a month later, on April 28, 2020.

PUA is the broadest of federal aid programs, providing benefits to those who have exhausted state programs or did not qualify in the first place, such as small business owners and gig economy workers.

Delays were blamed on a system riddled with problems as well as federal standards that required states like Florida to build entirely new systems to process claims tailored to each specific program.

For many Florida families, time is of the essence.

With an economy anchored by often low-wage tourism jobs, Central Florida continues to hold the highest unemployment rate (7.7%) in the state (6.4%) as of November’s data release.

Osceola County (9.7%) and Orange County (8.1%) are both home to the major theme parks and resorts and have the highest unemployment rates in the state, followed by Lake (6.5%) and Seminole (5.7%) counties. 

As thousands face extended furloughs and layoffs, job growth remains slow, according to the FLorida DEO.

Florida Department of Economic Opportunity Executive Director Dane Eagle told Spectrum News last month that the agency was continuing to work to address ongoing issues stalling claims, but added that unemployment benefit is only meant to be a temporary aid.

Ultimately any long-term fixes to the system itself — or amounts of benefits — will be up to the state legislature to determine.

The first question is how to pay for it.

While Florida DEO officials say it’s paid out nearly $20 billion in state and federal aid, the bulk of that is federal funding.

According to the U.S. Department of Treasury, Florida’s unemployment system had approximately $4 billion on hand for state aid distribution. As of December 22, that amount is now at approximately $859 million, although it should be noted, the fund earned $56.5 million alone on interest since March. ($24.9 million in March, $21.3 million in June, and $10.3 million in September).

FLORIDA LEGISLATURE

Any deal in Congress still leaves a remaining issue: What about the long term?

“The reality is that even if unemployment was working and if people were receiving payments, we know the payments are not enough,” said Democratic State Rep. Anna Eskmani of Orlando. “Florida is not up to par with the national average.”

Eskamani’s office processed thousands of complaints this summer from frustrated Floridians unable to obtain benefits in a timely manner.

In preparing for the 2021 Legislative Session, state lawmakers are eyeing two approaches to addressing Florida’s unemployment system: the system itself, and the Benefits

State Democrats are pushing a proposal that includes:

• Extending benefits from 12 weeks to 26 weeks.
• Extending $275 weekly benefits to $500 per week.
• Creating eligibility measures to include those currently not qualified for state benefits, including gig workers and self-employed.

The challenge for Democrats is that the Florida Legislature is heavily Republican controlled.

“This has to be an issue of bipartisanship, an eviction notice doesn’t care if you’re a Republican or Democrat,” Eskamani said.

What Republicans and Democrats do agree on is the system itself needs to be fixed.

The state has spent tens of millions of dollars creating and then fixing the failures within the system itself.

“I think there have been safeguards put into the system for the last eight months,” Republican Senate President Wilton Simpson told reporters in Tallahassee this week.

When pressed on what specifically he would do to address the unemployment crisis, Simpson and other Republican leaders said it was an issue they would begin taking up in January.

The Legislature is scheduled to meet for session in March, leaving the remaining challenge for Floridians. No matter what the Legislature approves, any program or relief would not come until July 1, 2021 at the earliest, at the start of the new fiscal year.