Arizona judge upholds Ducey’s cut of extra jobless benefits

PHOENIX (AP) — An Arizona judge has upheld Republican Gov. Doug Ducey’s decision last year to cut $300 in supplemental monthly unemployment benefits provided by the federal government. Rejecting jobless workers’ claims that they were entitled to the extra money, the ruling Thursday by Judge Catherine Cooper of Maricopa County Superior Court said Ducey wasn’t required to spend the federal dollars. Seeking to prod people to return to work, Ducey cut the benefits in July, two months before the funding ended, resulting in over 100,000 jobless people receiving less money for eight weeks of benefits, amounting to about $2,400 per person.