Could Pandemic Benefits Be Renewed
White House officials made it clear they were not planning to continue the enhanced jobless benefits past the Labor Day expiration, saying they were intended to be temporary. When states began pulling out of pandemic-era unemployment programs early,;Labor Department officials;said their hands were tied and that they couldn’t counter decisions by governors.;
Meanwhile, given the uncertainties of COVID-19, new quarantine restrictions could be imposed, which could lead to more layoffs. President Joe Biden has passed the buck to the states, telling governors they can use recovery funds to help those struggling with unemployment.;
According to an Aug. 19;letter by Labor and Treasury Department officials, states can use $350 billion of pandemic funds that Congress allocated in the American Rescue Plan to continue paying unemployed workers. The letter says that in areas where unemployment remains high, “it may make sense for unemployed workers to continue receiving additional assistance for a longer period of time,” which would allow those individuals to find a job.;
It’s not clear at this time which states will choose to use any leftover pandemic funds to continue jobless benefits. According to a;CBS News report, not every state has shut the door to continuing some benefits, with some local officials reviewing options for providing assistance after the Labor Day expiration.;
Will Payments Hurt Businesses Or Help The Unemployed
Several other organizations have weighed in. Ohio Grocers Association, Ohio Hotel and Lodging Association, Ohio Restaurant Association, Ohio Business Roundtable, Ohio Chamber of Commerce, National Federation of Independent Business and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce all back DeWine’s position.;
It is clear that Ohio businesses and in turn, Ohios economy will suffer unjustifiable harm if the requested injunction is issued,” they wrote in a legal brief.;
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Arguing on the other side are;liberal-leaning think tank Policy Matters Ohio, the American Sustainable Business Council and;National Employment Law Project.;
They say Ohio businesses have a hiring problem because of poor access to childcare, low wages offered and concerns about the continuing pandemic not because federal officials chipped in an additional $300 a week.;
The decision runs counter to the public interest and creates economic harm for thousands of Ohioans,” they wrote, adding that low-income, Black, women and those living in Appalachian Ohio with high unemployment rates would be most hurt.;
Jessie Balmert is a reporter for the USA TODAY Network Ohio Bureau, which serves the Akron Beacon Journal, Cincinnati Enquirer, Columbus Dispatch and 18 other affiliated news organizations across Ohio.
Is There A New Verification Process For Pua Applications
Jobless Americans who were receiving PUA benefits must verify their eligibility for the program this year.
Under an anti-fraud provision in the relief package, those currently getting PUA benefits will have 90 days to submit documents proving their continuing eligibility for the program. Those that dont could be at risk of having to pay back any funds they receive after the bills enactment in December.;
Its unclear what documentation will be sufficient to satisfy the requirement, experts say.;
People who apply for PUA;for the first time starting;Jan.;31 will have 21 days to submit their;verification;documents, according to CNBC.
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Odjfs Latest News And Status On Pua Peuc And $300 Fpuc Payment Schedule/issues
The Department of Labor has issued formal guidelines for states to implement the latest extensions. The ODJFS has rolled-out all of the extensions under the ARP program and has begun issuing the supplemental weekly $300 payments to active claimants. Key updates include:
Pandemic Unemployment Assistance
The extended weeks under the PUA program have now been rolled out and individuals will be notified via email when the additional weeks have been added to their accounts.;In order to ensure expanded eligibility, three classifications have been added for PUA claimants when applying for benefits. Claimants must select one of the three reasons above when they apply for PUA benefits:
- Those previously receiving traditional unemployment benefits who refuse to return to work or refuse an offer of work because the workplace is not in compliance with local, state, or national health and safety standards directly related to COVID-19.
- Those who provide services to an educational institution or educational service agency and are fully or partially unemployed as a direct result of COVID-19.
- Those who are laid off or had their work hours reduced as a direct result of COVID-19.
Pandemic Emergency Unemployment Compensation
The extended weeks to week ending September 4th, 2021 have now been implemented and available to eligible claimants.
Federal Pandemic Unemployment Compensation
Mixed Earner Unemployment Compensation
Other Extensions implemented as part of ARPA bill
Case Over Ohio’s $300 Weekly Unemployment Checks Sent Back To County Court
The fight to bring back the $300 weekly additional checks to unemployed Ohioans remains up in the air after an appeals court decided to send the case back to a county judge.
Advocates to revive the pandemic unemployment assistance say this gives reason to start sending the weekly checks again.
The 10th District Court of Appeals ruled that a lower court’s decision to deny reinstating the additional unemployment assistance is based on an analysis that is “incomplete.”
The appeals court says the Franklin County Court of Common Pleas did not address two factors in the case; “unjustifiable harm to third parties or any public interest served by the injunction.”
Zach Schiller with Policy Matters Ohio says there’s still hope the additional $300 a week will be paid out retroactively.
“I would certainly hope that there could be some benefits that could be paid out beyond those that expire on September 4,” Schiller said.
But Attorney General Dave Yost is;asking the Ohio Supreme Court;to reverse the appeals courts decision.
The state argues that Gov. Mike DeWine had the legal right to stop accepting the federal funds for the program.
Ohio;stopped accepting the federal dollars to pay out the checks;at the end of June. Gov. Mike DeWine said vaccines and other protection measures were in place that allowed people to go back to work.
In ending those checks, DeWine said the coronavirus vaccine and other protective measures make it safe for people to return to work.
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Lost Wages Assistance Program Update
The OHJFS has now paid out the $300 weekly payment under the;LWA program, which provides supplemental payments to eligible unemployment benefits claimants who have been unemployed, partially unemployed, or unable or unavailable to work due to disruptions caused by COVID-19. OHJFS had processed the majority of LWA payments, including retroactive funds, to eligible claimants by the end of September . Eligible claimants will have their LWA weekly benefit payment;retroactive;to the dates they are eligible, for a maximum of 6 weeks.
LWA payment schedule
The ODJFS recently an updated schedule for the $300 payment which will be done in batches based on the type of unemployment people were getting.
Update for Pandemic Unemployment Assistance Claimants:
Pandemic Unemployment Assistance claimants began receiving retroactive LWA payments the week of September 14, 2020. For PUA claimants, LWA is being distributed in individual $300 payments over a period of six days through September 21, for all weeks they qualify, up to $1,800.
LWA was able to be provided to PUA claimants more quickly because PUA is administered by a newer cloud-based system, which is much less difficult to program than the legacy system used to deliver traditional unemployment benefits.
Update for Traditional UI, Trade, Shared Work Ohio and Extended-Benefit Claimants:
Ohio End Extra $300 Weekly Pandemic Unemployment Payment Early
Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine;announced that ODJFS will stop paying out the $300 p/week federally funded unemployment benefit program by the week ending . However unlike many other Republican led states ending these programs Ohio will retain the PUA and PEUC programs through to the current September 6th expiry.
The argument for ending the $300 extra weekly payment is that the extra unemployment programs do not incentivize workers to return to work, especially lower income workers who make less than $15 p/hour. Opponents argue that the reason people are not going back to work is due to fears around getting COVID, child care or schooling constraints. You can see more on which states are ending the extra weekly;$300 FPUC here;and a;recent;YouTube video;I made on this topic.
After the June 26th cut-off date, or from the week beginning June 27th, 2021 the $300 extra weekly payment will cease for all active and new claimants. You can stay connected for updates via the options below.
Note that lawsuits have been filed in Ohio against Governor Mike DeWine to restore Ohios participation in the $300 G federal unemployment programs. The case follows temporary injunctions in other states who filed lawsuits.
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While It’s A Win For Advocates Who Wanted The Checks Brought Back The Case Isn’t Over Yet
The fight to bring back the $300 weekly additional checks to unemployed Ohioans remains up in the air after an appeals court decided to send the case back to a county judge.
Advocates to revive the pandemic unemployment assistance say this gives reason to start sending the weekly checks again.
The 10th District Court of Appeals ruled that a lower court’s decision to deny reinstating the additional unemployment assistance is based on an analysis that is “incomplete.”
The appeals court says the Franklin County Court of Common Pleas did not address two factors in the case; “unjustifiable harm to third parties or any public interest served by the injunction.”
Zach Schiller, Policy Matters Ohio, says there’s still hope the additional $300 a week will be paid out retroactively.
“I would certainly hope that there could be some benefits that could be paid out beyond those that expire on September 4,” Schiller says.
Ohio stopped accepting the federal dollars to pay out the checks at the end of June. Gov. Mike DeWine said vaccines and other protection measures were in place that allowed people to go back to work.
Another hearing is set for Friday.
Unemployed Ohioans Lose Extra $300 Of Pandemic Assistance
CINCINNATI The state of Ohio is pulling out of the Federal Pandemic Unemployment Compensation Program. That means starting June 26, unemployed people have lost the extra $300 they were receiving during the global health crisis.
Ohio Governor Mike DeWine announced the plan to withdraw from the program last month. He said the extra $300 payments are ending because the economy is on a path back to normalcy.
“If you look at why jobs are not being filled — Im sure its multiple reasons — but whenever you go in and the market is distorted in that sense, you have certain consequences,” DeWine said during his May announcement.
Other Federal Unemployment Benefits, like those for people who don’t ordinarily qualify or the ones that have been offered for an extended amount of time, aren’t being disrupted.
Policy experts said Ohioans losing the extra $300 could spell problems for families and business owners.
Zach Schiller from Policy Matters Ohio called the change “shameful,” noting that there are families still in severe financial distress because of the pandemic.
He said cutting off that money to those in need could hurt the economy in the long run.
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Ohio To Stop $300 Weekly Federal Unemployment Assistance Program
Gov. Mike DeWine has announced the state will cut off the additional $300 in weekly federal assistance going to unemployed workers, starting in late June. DeWine says this is another step in restoring the market while others call it a mistake.
DeWine says companies around the state are having trouble finding workers to fill job openings and says the extra $300 a week going towards people who are unemployed is playing a role.
In some cases, certainly discouraging people from going back at this point in time. The assistance was always, always intended to be temporary, DeWine says.
Ohio will end that additional assistance program on June 26.
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But groups like the liberal think tank Policy Matters Ohio calls that a mistake.
Hannah Halbert, executive director of Policy Matters Ohio, wrote in a statement, The best way for employers to attract new workers is to pay a good wage and offer decent benefits.;State unemployment data show Ohioans re-enter the workforce when decent jobs are available. In the last quarter of 2020, the vast majority;of unemployed Ohioans, about 80%, returned to work before exhausting their unemployment benefits.
Which Federal Unemployment Programs Expired
At the very start of the pandemic, the March 2020 CARES Act established temporary federal unemployment aid programs to help those who lost their jobs due to COVID-19. The American Rescue Plan in March 2021 extended the emergency programs to last until Labor Day this year.;
The first program was Federal Pandemic Unemployment Compensation, the weekly bonus — $600 per week at first, then $300 per week — that helped out-of-work Americans supplement benefits and recover some lost wages. Another was Pandemic Emergency Unemployment Compensation, or PEUC, which extended aid to those who had already exhausted their state’s benefits period . The other was Pandemic Unemployment Assistance, or PUA, which covered self-employed workers and freelancers not typically eligible for aid.;
A later stimulus package created another program called Mixed Earners Unemployment Compensation, which offered $100 per week extra for those workers whose labor was split between being an employee and an independent contractor.;
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Backdated Payments With Pua Claims
Several readers have asked if the $600 payment will be back dated for those who become eligible for state unemployment benefits under the PUA program. While this is subject to the different timelines of the PUA and FPUC programs, generally speaking if you qualified for the PUA program between early April and the end of July, you would be eligible for FPUC benefits per the dates shown below. This includes backdated payments for weeks you were eligible. In most states backdated PUA and FPUC payments will be paid in one lump-sum one to two weeks after you receive your first payment of eligible state UI benefits.
How Many People Lost Federal Benefits On Labor Day
Apart from the millions of workers in states that discontinued federal unemployment aid early, more than;3 million additional people;who were getting the weekly $300 bonus lost it on Labor Day. If they’re still eligible to collect state unemployment insurance , they’ll continue to receive some compensation. But that compensation will return to pre-pandemic benefit levels, which is a significantly lower amount.;
In addition, around 7.5 million people were entirely cut off when the temporary pandemic unemployment programs expired, considered the largest cutoff of unemployment benefits in US history. Here’s how it breaks down, according to a detailed analysis of Labor Department data by the Century Foundation.;
- 3.3 million people covered by PEUC:;This category includes workers who would have no longer been eligible to receive unemployment because they passed their state’s benefit window . The program provided up to 53 weeks of additional aid for those who had exceeded state allowances.
- 4.2 million people covered by PUA:;This category includes workers who do not normally qualify for any form of federal or state unemployment compensation, including freelancers, gig workers, independent contractors and part-time workers. During the pandemic, the program also supported those who couldn’t work because they were taking care of a dependent.;
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Appeals Court Sends Lawsuit Over $300 Weekly Unemployment Checks Back To Franklin County Court
The fight to bring back the $300 weekly additional checks to unemployed Ohioans remains up in the air after an appeals court decided to send the case back to a Franklin County judge.
Advocates to revive the pandemic unemployment assistance said the decision gives reason to start sending the weekly checks again.
The 10th District Court of Appeals ruled that a lower court’s decision to deny reinstating the additional unemployment assistance is based on an analysis that is “incomplete.”
The appeals court said the Franklin County Court of Common Pleas Judge Michael Holbrook did not address two factors in the case; “unjustifiable harm to third parties or any public interest served by the injunction.”
Zach Schiller, the research director for the liberal-leaning think tank Policy Matters Ohio, said there’s still hope the additional $300 a week will be paid out retroactively.
“I would certainly hope that there could be some benefits that could be paid out beyond those that expire on September 4,” Schiller said.
Ohio stopped accepting the federal dollars to pay out the checks at the end of June. Gov. Mike DeWine said vaccines and other protection measures were in place that allowed people to go back to work.
Former Ohio Attorney General Marc Dann represents the group, and says as many as 200,000 Ohioans could get the checks if his side prevails.
Another hearing is set for Friday.
Ohio is among the 26 states ending the program early, and most of them are run by Republicans.
Ohio Begins Issuing $300 Supplemental Unemployment Benefits
Ohio will extend extra benefits to unemployed Ohioans for at least a short period.Ohio Department of Job and Family Services
CLEVELAND, Ohio – The state of Ohio has begun paying out an additional $300 in weekly unemployment benefits, retroactive to Aug. 1, for the temporary program ordered by President Donald Trump after negotiations between the White House and Congress broke down on a longer-term fix.
The pay is a replacement for $600 in added unemployment benefits recipients had been receiving through the end of July under the pandemic relief bill known as the CARES Act.
However, the new program called Lost Wages Assistance is to run only as long as the $44 billion set aside for it lasts. Each state participating initially received three weeks of money from the Federal Emergency Management Agency, then more as available.
Ohio has been approved to distribute the payments for six weeks – the weeks ending Aug. 1 through Sept. 5 – according the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services website.
First up are those on the Pandemic Unemployment Assistance program, according to the ODJFS website, starting the week of September 16, which was Wednesday, starting at $300 a time up to $1,800 for the six weeks. PUA is the program created this year for those who do not qualify for traditional unemployment, such as self-employed people and low-wage workers.
These payments will be retroactive to Aug. 1 as well.
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