Boosting state UI is a good idea and I'm happy the Feds did it. But every state's UI is designed to be short-term help in a functioning economy. No US state has a "pandemic-ready" UI, and in many states unemployed workers are literally unable to reach state admins on the phone because of the call volume.

That's why the Feds should be striving to keep workers out of the overwhelmed state UI programs. "Stimulus" now is incredibly cheap, perhaps even negative cost, because the alternative is people sitting at home on the phone for hours, hoping to reach a state UI admin. That is not an exaggeration.

Do you think the feds can set up a whole new system to funnel billions of dollars to small companies in a short time? Quicker than unemployment systems?

Agreed, good point. The Feds should not set up a "whole new system", but also not expect much from state UI, which wasn't designed for this crisis. So what should the Federal response be?

To start with, the Feds should identify existing agencies with the capacity to administer payments. Like the IRS: one coarse-but-quick approach is for the Feds to instruct the IRS to eliminate SSI withholding. That makes it cheaper for every business to employ workers. Beyond that I don't know; this is where Federal leadership should step in.

The Feds do have a system to funnel billions of dollars out of small companies once a year, so in theory that pipe could go the opposite direction.

Why use the same old pipe when you can make more jobs laying new ones?

That's not the alternative. Millions of people have been serviced completely through online portals. There's no phone call required.

The tech is definitely old and a few states are still dealing with issues preventing payments but it's rapidly getting fixed. UI is still faster for continued payments than the federal govt, as seen by the pace of the original $1200 stimulus checks which have yet to reach the majority.

Yes, but this is a bonus on top of existing state benefits. And as mentioned upthread, it's actually proving surprisingly (or... not) difficult for people to actually apply, qualify for and receive benefits in some states.