Unemployment benefits included in a new COVID-19 relief package will not expire this week as planned, despite President Trump
Donald TrumpTrump calls for an end to “religious persecution worldwide” on the 850th anniversary of Thomas Becket’s death. The interview with Michael Cohen raises questions after he mentions friends from prison ‘Tony Meatballs and Big Minty’ Ocasio-Cortez against Democrats and Republicans who opposed $ 1,000 direct payments MOREdelay in signing the bill, the Department of Labor confirmed on Tuesday.
“As states are implementing these new provisions as quickly as possible, the Department does not anticipate that eligible applicants will lose a week of benefits due to the time the law is enacted,” a department spokesman told The Hill.
Two major unemployment emergency programs, Pandemic Unemployment Assistance (PUA) and Pandemic Emergency Unemployment Compensation (PEUC), expired on Saturday, the day before Trump signed a $ 900 billion COVID-19 relief bill.
Trump delayed signing the bill, which passed Congress on December 21, complaining that $ 600 stimulus checks were not big enough.
The delay fueled concerns that 14 million people on both programs, which expand benefits for self-employed and temporary workers who normally cannot receive benefits and provide additional weeks of federal support after regular state benefits expire, would lose their benefits. benefits for a week.
Michele Evermore, a leading unemployment expert at the National Employment Law Project, has identified a legal solution to keep benefits flowing. Evermore is also a voluntary member of the president-elect Joe Biden
Joe BidenMichigan Mayor draws criticism with Facebook posts suggesting rebellion: Trump report names Roisman interim SEC president, Biden appointed to the Interior discusses environmental injustice with tribal leaders MOREof the transition review team for the Department of Labor, but says he was not acting as a member of the Biden transition.
The workaround will also ensure that $ 300 in additional weekly payments to all unemployment insurance beneficiaries start on time. Experts feared that a delay would simply cut an 11-week delay to the benefit, which has an expiration date set for March 14.
Altogether, the alternative solution saved $ 11 billion in targeted relief and stimulus money essentially evaporating.
Since unemployment benefits are administered by states, however, it is still unclear whether all states will be able to avoid lapse or delays in payment of the benefit.
For example, the New Jersey Department of Labor tweeted that claimants “would continue to receive benefits without loopholes or delays” following the guidance of the Department of Labor. But the Iowa unemployment insurance agency issued a notice warning that “there will be a payment gap for these programs for an unknown period of time.”
Other more recent benefits in the COVID-19 relief bill, such as a $ 100 weekly benefit for people earning income from various sources, including self-employment, would take longer to implement, the department said.
In the meantime, the House passed a bill to increase stimulus check payments from $ 600 to $ 2,000, but the fate of the bill in the Senate remains uncertain.
Updated at 10:50