Courts side with unemployed workers in two states, forcing Indiana and Maryland to keep pandemic-related $300 supplemental benefits

Unemployed workers in two Republican-led states — Maryland and Indiana — will see more money in their weekly checks, after courts sided against state officials' efforts to end the extra $300 per week in benefits approved by the federal government in response to the pandemic.

Indiana will restart those enhanced benefits Friday, while increased benefits for Maryland workers will not lapse. A judge in the Circuit Court for Baltimore City issued a preliminary injunction Tuesday ordering Governor Larry Hogan and the state labor secretary to ensure that Maryland workers continue to receive the supplemental benefits available under federal legislation passed in response to the pandemic. The governor had moved to end the supplemental benefits and others aimed at gig workers and others who don't qualify for traditional unemployment on July 3.