$400 Unemployment Insurance Benefit: Who Qualifies And When Does It Start
More than 30 million unemployed Americans were receiving an additional $600 in unemployment benefits until they expired on July 25. If you are one of them, you were probably somewhat relieved to have heard that last weekend, President Donald Trump signed an executive measure that promises $400 a week on top of your state’s regular unemployment benefits.
Of course, $400 isn’t $600, but it isn’t zero dollars either.
Naturally, you likely have questions. Read on for detailed answers to some of the more common concerns surrounding this benefit.
Is it a certainty that I’ll receive an extra $400 a week in unemployment benefits?
Nobody really knows for sure, although it does seem likely that you’ll at least receive $300 a week. But this is an educated guess. There are 50 different states, after all, and there’s really no telling how states will handle this.
Part of the problem is that the way the executive measure is set up, it requires states to pony up $100 of that $400. If your state will pay unemployed residents $100 extra a week, the federal government will pay an additional $300 on top of that, and so that’s how you get $400.
The issue is that many states are facing budget shortfalls due to the pandemic, so offering an extra $100 to unemployed citizens would make things even tighter.
So instead of $600 in enhanced unemployment benefits, I would receive half of that?
Yes.
Hurdles That Need To Be Cleared First
Trump has hinted that states might not be eligible to receive the extra $300 in federally funded unemployment aid if they cant supply the $100 upfront, which was proving to be a challenge for states from the start.
State and local government budgets have been hard-hit due to the pandemic, amid soaring health care and unemployment costs yet declining tax revenues. Even with the option of using funds from the CRF, it means some more cash-strapped states might not be able to meet that threshold. State legislatures are also often required to approve a ramp-up in unemployment aid spending, meaning another barrier.
Finding the resources needed to pay for a $100-per-week benefit hike may be hard and could be very time-consuming, Burtless says.
Though the president backpedaled on those claims, saying governors could make a request that the federal government pick up the entire cost, he also suggested that the amount states are already paying out could count toward the match.
If thats the case, it would mean states arent truly supplying $100 extra in weekly benefits, therefore reducing the boost. It also means potentially excluding the near 13 million individuals on PUA and other programs, since those are federally funded and therefore might not qualify for the match, Evermore says.
Regular state UI is only a fraction of the number of people getting unemployment insurance, she says. Some people will get $400 and $300 in theory.
Cuomo: New York Can’t Pay 25% Of Extra Benefits
New York Governor Andrew Cuomo on Sunday said his state does not have the funds to kick in such a sum, for example, describing Trump’s executive order as “impossible”.
“What the president has done has made it impossible, impossible on the state,” Cuomo told reporters, per The New York Post. “The concept of saying to states ‘you pay 25% of unemployment insurance’ is just laughable.”
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Us Department Of Labor Announces Guidance For The Lost Wages Assistance Program To Provide Needed Relief To Americans
WASHINGTON, D.C. The U.S. Department of Labor today announced the release of guidance to help states implement the Lost Wages Assistance program. LWA is authorized by Presidential Memorandum, and provides claimants in most Unemployment Insurance programs up to $400 per week additional benefits, starting with weeks of unemployment ending on or after Aug. 1, 2020, and ending Dec. 27, 2020 at the latest. LWA will be administered by states and territories through a grant agreement with the U.S. Department of Homeland Securitys Federal Emergency Management Agency and with support from the Labor Department.
To qualify for LWA benefits, individuals must provide self-certification they are unemployed or partially unemployed due to disruptions caused by the novel coronavirus , and the state must confirm that the individual is receiving at least $100 of underlying unemployment benefits.
With the expiration of FPUC, LWA will provide important assistance to workers who need it, said Assistant Secretary of Labor for Employment and Training John Pallasch. This program is another tangible example of this Administrations commitment to helping Americans during these challenging times. The Department and our partners at FEMA will work tirelessly in the coming, days and weeks to ensure LWAs vital and important benefits are made available to those most in need, Pallasch added.
Once Passed When Would $400 Benefits Start Going Out
Just like the $600 and $300 weekly benefits passed in 2020, the implementation of the enhanced benefits will likely vary at the state level.
The good news? If states delay in sending out the $400 unemployment payments, the benefit would be back paid for any missed weeks. If Congress passes it, Americans who are eligible for the $400 enhanced unemployment benefits will eventually get their money.
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How Likely Is Passage Of The Additional Unemployment Benefits
Legislation is expected to narrowly pass in the Senate, along party lines. Democrats have narrow majorities in both the House and the Senate and decided to try to pass Bidens stimulus plan via a process known as budget reconciliation. That allows lawmakers to pass comprehensive legislation with a simple majority of just 51 votes, though it limits what can be included in the bill to items that affect spending, revenues, and the federal deficit.
Senators will likely pass a slightly different version of the bill they received, though, given opposition to some provisions in the billnotably, a proposed minimum wage increase that the Senate parliamentarian ruled could not be included under the rules of the budget reconciliation process. But the unemployment relief outlined in the House version of the bill is expected to remain as is.
The House will then have to pass the Senates version or the two chambers will have to meet to draft a final piece of legislation in a conference committee that both houses of Congress can agree on.
How Will The New Ui System Work
The presidents executive order tees up a jointly funded federal-state payout and a complicated one at that. With the new program, the federal government will pay for $300 of that weekly check, while $100 would be covered by states.
For states portion, theyre being directed to tap into a Coronavirus Relief Fund established through the CARES Act, which currently has about $80 billion in funds remaining. To fund the federal portion, Trump is shifting over $44 billion worth of funds from the Federal Emergency Management Agency originally reserved for natural disasters such as tornadoes, wildfires and hurricanes. To that end, it has some experts wondering whether the extra aid under Trumps executive order can be even called unemployment insurance at all.
Its a FEMA benefit, says Michele Evermore, senior policy analyst at the National Employment Law Project who specializes in UI. Its totally outside the unemployment insurance system.
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Unemployment Soars In Us Amid Pandemic
Unemployment has rocketed in the US during the coronavirus pandemic. The jobless rate reached as high as 14.7% in April, and although it has since fallen to 10.2%, this figure remains nearly 7% higher than Februarys 3.5%. Per the Economic Policy Institute, moreover, it is worse than the nadir of the Great Recession, which saw unemployment reach 10.0% in 2009.
Why Did I Receive A Section 1277 Letter
If you received a Notice of Determination of Invalid Claim, Section 1277 after applying for a new claim, this means you did not work or earn enough wages over the past year to qualify for a new regular unemployment claim.
If your new claim is invalid, you may still qualify for a federal extension on your prior claim. For more information, visit Benefit Year End.
If you received a new debit card from Bank of America that you did not request, it could be because:
- You recently submitted an application with a different name than what we had on file.
- You verified your information through ID.me using a different name than what you provided on your unemployment application.
This change requires Bank of America to issue a new debit card to match the updated name we have on file. For example, if you provided the name Mike Doe when you first applied, but then verified through ID.me as Michael Doe later, we will update your records to Michael Doe and a new debit card will be issued for that name.
Important: Use your new card only. All funds from the old card will be transferred to the new card, and you will not be able to use the old one. No further action is needed.
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Impacts Of An August Expiration
An earlier August cutoff date could negatively impact the most vulnerable workers by ending jobless aid before labor market recovery reaches them, writes Chad Stone, chief economist with the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities.
For example, the share of long-term joblessness is rising: 39.5% of people out of work report being unemployed for more than six months. The last week of January marked the 46th straight week where more than 1 million people filed for unemployment for the first time, either for state aid or Pandemic Unemployment Assistance, which supports freelancers, gig workers and those not traditionally eligible for benefits.
Ending federal aid sooner could disproportionately impact Black, Latino, women and low-wage workers who’ve lost jobs in industries hit hardest by the virus, including food service, travel and hospitality. Currently, the economy still hasn’t recovered 10 million of the 22.5 million jobs lost since the pandemic hit the U.S.
Additionally, Congress typically isn’t in session in August, so if the policy measures expire at this time, it’s more likely to cause a benefit lapse. Americans will remember that following the of the previous $600 weekly supplement from the CARES Act, negotiations on a new round of relief between Congressmembers and Trump-era White House officials dragged on for months.
When Will The Extended Unemployment Benefits Arrive
Senate Democrats will begin to debate the covid-19 relief bill passed in the House beginning Wednesday and it is expected they could pass the bill by Friday. However if deliberation on the bill drags out that will delay when the bill gets to Bidens desk. Even if Biden signs the bill by 14 March, the unemployed could see a temporary disruption in payments.
Guidance on the new law must first be issued by the US Department of Labor. Then it will be up to the states to reprogram their antiquated systems with the new provisions. This has previously caused delays in getting out the payments, as happened when the latest extension was allowed to lapse for just a couple days.
Over 4 million beneficiaries will go over a “hard cliff” if unemployment benefits are allowed to expire according to The Century Foundation. Instead of seamlessly continuing to receive unemployment insurance, they would then need to be reenrolled into the programs which could take several weeks delaying payments further.
The Senate must act swiftly to pass a COVID relief bill that extends critical unemployment programs before workers hit a benefit cliff in just two weeks. #ExtendUI#AmericanRescuePlan
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President Donald Trump Signed A Series Of Executive Orders That Include The Extension Of Enhanced Unemployment Benefits Amid The Coronavirus Pandemic
Amid an impasse in negotiations over the next coronavirus stimulus bill in the United States, President Donald Trump last Saturday signed a series of executive orders vowing to provide further economic relief to Americans during the pandemic, with the extension of enhanced unemployment benefits among the measures.
When A Bill Could Be Finalized
Without action, 11.4 million people are expected to start losing jobless aid on March 14, according to estimates from The Century Foundation. Policy analysts say Congress and Biden should ideally pass new legislation two to four weeks before the mid-March deadline in order to deliver aid with minimal delays.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi says the chamber wants to pass the coronavirus relief bill in the next two weeks. Policy analysts expect the bill could be signed into law by early March.
In addition to extending federal unemployment aid, the latest Covid relief bill aims to finalize a new round of stimulus checks, expand the child tax credit, increase Affordable Care Act premium tax credits, provide Covid and health support for nursing homes, stabilize pensions and more.
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Six Months Of Extra Benefits
The president-elect would also extend the duration of benefits by about six months, to the end of September instead of mid-March.
That would apply to self-employed, gig and part-time workers collecting Pandemic Unemployment Assistance, and recipients of Pandemic Emergency Unemployment Compensation, who exhausted their standard allotment of state benefits.
Those programs lapsed the day after Christmas but were reinstated by the recent relief measure. They support more than 11 million Americans, according to U.S. Labor Department data released Thursday.
In total, more than 18 million people were collecting unemployment benefits at the end of last year.
” means 18 million Americans currently on unemployment benefits while they look for work can count on these checks continuing to be there,” Biden said.
I Need Help Answering My Certification Questions Where Can I Get More Information
We recently added information to UI Online to help you complete your certification. When you log into your account and begin answering your certification questions, you will see this updated information. This new text will help you understand how to answer questions correctly and avoid payment delays.
Note: These additional instructions are currently not available through UI Online MobileSM.
For help with answering questions correctly to avoid delays in payments, review the following:
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What Happens If My State Can’t Provide Funding
This is one of the biggest questions regarding Trump’s directive, which states that the federal government will provide $300 in additional aid and the states will contribute another $100.
Some governors have already said the $100 per-person contribution is beyond reach, with Gov. Andrew Cuomo of New York calling it “impossible.” That’s because many states are already financially strapped due to a loss of tax revenue after the coronavirus pandemic shuttered the economy.
Trump’s order specifies that the state funding would come from the $150 billion Coronavirus Relief Fund , but some states have already spent or earmarked that money.
Executive Orders cant replace legislative actions.
States cant pay 25% of unemployment costs.
Its simply impossible.
Andrew Cuomo
“For many states, the remaining funds in the CRF would be sufficient to pay the state share of benefits,” Goldman analysts wrote in a research note. “However, some states have already used most or, in the case of California, all of their CRF allocation, which would leave them to fund the benefit from other state resources.”
States have another option, according to a Sunday memo from the Department of Labor viewed by CBS MoneyWatch. They can “count their existing unemployment insurance weekly benefit payments from state funds” toward their $100 contribution, the memo said.
The American Rescue Plan Extends Bonus Payments Of $300 Per Week And Offers A Tax Break For Unemployment Benefits Collected In 2020
Millions of anxious, unemployed Americans are breathing a collective sigh of relief knowing that they will continue to receive without interruption supplemental weekly federal unemployment benefits into early September after President Joe Biden signed into law on Thursday the $1.9 trillion stimulus package known as the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021.
Bidens signature comes just days before the enhanced federal unemployment benefits, established by previous stimulus packages, were set to expire. As part of the new plan, nearly one-third of American households who are currently unemployed or will lose their job this summer will receive federal unemployment benefit payments of $300 per week on top of standard benefit levels through September 6, 2021. Whats more, as much as $10,200 of unemployment benefits received in 2020 will be exempt from tax for households whose incomes are less than $150,000.
The American Rescue Plan, which was finalized by the House on Wednesday in a firmly partisan 220-211 vote , is the latest iteration of federal health and economic aid to cushion the blows wrought by the which, since March 2020, has significantly hobbled the American economy.
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Who Qualifies For The Pua Extended Unemployment Benefits
The CARES Act also created Pandemic Unemployment Assistance, which was designed to provide benefits to freelancers, gig workers, and others who are working on contract and have lost income as a result of the pandemic. This week, the Labor Department issued new guidance expanding eligibility to collect benefits under the program to also include:
The bill passed by the House would lengthen the duration of the PUA program to up to 74 weeksnearly a year and a halffrom the current 50 weeks. That means someone who began collecting unemployment benefits through the PUA program last spring, and continues to qualify, could continue to do so until the program expires at the end of August.
If the stimulus bill is signed into law before mid-March with the current unemployment relief provisions intact, the millions of Americans who are eligible to collect either PUA or PEUC payments should simply continue to receive those benefits.
