Some states start paying an additional $ 300 per week in unemployment benefits

Although Congress passed a long-awaited coronavirus relief bill in December that will extend unemployment benefits to millions of laid-off Americans, only a handful of states have started handing out additional federal aid.

At least eight states started paying the extra $ 300 a week in unemployment assistance this week, with more expected to follow in mid-January. Workers made redundant in California, New York, Arizona, Connecticut, Minnesota, Rhode Island and Texas is expected to receive the first round of softened benefits this week, according to state labor agencies.

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The South Carolina State Department of Labor said Monday it had already paid more than $ 10 million under recently extended unemployment programs, including a $ 300-per-week increase in aid .

Meanwhile, the Washington The state labor agency said it plans to start processing the increased payments on January 15. Connecticut labor officials also expect to start paying the additional aid by mid-January, according to a statement released by the state government on Tuesday.

Many states have not said when they intend to start issuing money as they work to adopt the new system. Workers will be reimbursed for any aid shortfall resulting from the delay.

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As part of the $ 900 billion aid package President Trump enacted last Sunday, which included $ 120 billion in unemployment benefits, unemployed Americans will receive an additional $ 300 per week in federal unemployment assistance during 11 weeks, until March 14.

The bill also extends unemployment benefits to the self-employed, construction workers, and those who have exhausted their state benefits by expanding the programs of the CARES Act, including Pandemic Unemployment Assistance (PUA), a program created to provide unemployment benefits to performing workers and others generally. not eligible for benefits; and the Pandemic Emergency Unemployment Compensation Program (PEUC), which extends the typical 26 weeks of state unemployment benefits by an additional 13 weeks.

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Both programs were due to expire on Dec. 26 before Congress extended them.

Because many unemployed Americans have used up their 26 weeks of public unemployment assistance, they have transferred to getting money through PEUC. According to data from the Ministry of Labor, around 7.3 million workers receive PUA benefits and around 4.6 million PEUC providers.