Cassandra Caron & a. v. New Hampshire Department of Employment Security & a., 2021-0478

In March 2020 Congress enacted the CARES Act, which created Pandemic Unemployment Assistance (PUA) as a temporary federal unemployment program for certain workers (self-employed, insufficient work history, COVID-related unemployment) through Sept. 6, 2021.
The CARES Act required the U.S. Secretary of Labor to provide PUA through agreements with states that had adequate systems; federal government funded benefits and state administrative costs once a state agreed.
New Hampshire (via the Governor) entered a March 28, 2020 agreement to administer PUA; NHES distributed PUA to eligible claimants, including the plaintiffs, for over a year.
The Governor gave 30 days’ notice in May 2021 terminating New Hampshire’s administration of PUA effective June 19, 2021, so plaintiffs received no PUA from that date until federal funding expired Sept. 6, 2021.
Plaintiffs sued under RSA 282-A:127 seeking declaratory relief and mandamus to compel NHES and the Commissioner to reinstate PUA (including back benefits), and moved for a TRO/preliminary injunction.
The superior court denied injunctive relief and dismissed the complaint, holding RSA 282-A:127 (requiring the Commissioner to secure “advantages available under the provisions of the Social Security Act”) did not obligate defendants to secure PUA because PUA was created by the CARES Act, not the Social Security Act; the Supreme Court affirmed.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Whether RSA 282-A:127 required NHES/the Commissioner to secure and administer PUA for NH claimants	Caron et al.: PUA is an advantage “available under the provisions of the Social Security Act” because PUA funds were processed through the SSA Unemployment Trust Fund and administered using SSA procedures, so RSA 282-A:127’s mandatory language required NHES to secure PUA	NHES/Commissioner: PUA was created by the CARES Act (a separate statute) and not obtainable under any provision of the Social Security Act, so RSA 282-A:127 did not obligate them to secure PUA	Court held RSA 282-A:127 does not require NHES/the Commissioner to secure/administer PUA because PUA was created by the CARES Act and is not an advantage "available under the provisions of the Social Security Act."

N.H. Dep’t of Envtl. Servs. v. Mottolo, 155 N.H. 57 (2007) (describing preliminary injunction standard, including likelihood of success on the merits)
Appeal of Mullen, 169 N.H. 392 (2016) (statutory interpretation reviewed de novo)
Petition of Carrier, 165 N.H. 719 (2013) (statutory language construed in context to discern legislative intent)
Colburn v. Saykaly, 173 N.H. 162 (2020) (courts will not add words legislators omitted)
Brannon v. McMaster, 864 S.E.2d 548 (S.C. 2021) (interpreting near-identical state statutory language and concluding PUA is not an advantage available under the Social Security Act)
Unemployed Workers United v. Ducey, 518 P.3d 293 (Ariz. Ct. App. 2022) (concluded CARES/PUA is separate from the Social Security Act despite using SSA administrative infrastructure)
Holcomb v. T.L., 175 N.E.3d 1177 (Ind. Ct. App. 2021) (reached similar conclusion under analogous state law)