Note that states which had ceased participation early in the federally funded unemployment programs will need to reapply to get access to this short term extension, if indeed it is passed. White House lawyers are likely already working on this as a possible option. If Congress cannot provide additional funding then this will be the most likely path for a short-term “emergency” extension of pandemic benefits and could be done relatively quickly along party lines, or simply by a Presidential Executive order. This is similar to the six week LWA extension that President Trump passed by executive order last year (using existing FEMA funding) when Congress could not initially agree on funding an extension to pandemic unemployment benefits. With the rapid spread of and potential economic slowdown from the virulent Delta COVID-19 strain there is now talk of the Biden administration repurposing some of existing ARPA stimulus bill funding to extend pandemic unemployment programs to the end of 2022. Biden Emergency Extension to Pandemic Unemployment Benefits? See more in these state specific unemployment pages. Some claimants may be eligible for State Extended Benefits ( SEB), but after September 4th all claimants must have a regular UI claim to continue receiving benefits. States who ended participation early in federal unemployment programs could also use these funds to extend/expand benefits if they choose to do so. Instead they are encouraging states with high unemployment to use some of the existing $350 billion in ARPA stimulus allocated for State and Local Fiscal Recovery (SLFR) initiatives to fund enhanced unemployment benefits.Īs discussed in this video, there is wide latitude for usage of these funds by state governors and departments, which includes funding emergency unemployment benefits. The Biden Administration has confirmed that they won’t push to extend federally funded unemployment benefits past the September 6th expiration date via Executive Order or Congressional action. States Have Funding to Expand Unemployment Benefits Get the latest money, tax and stimulus news directly in your inbox No Biden Executive Order. You can also see more on how retroactive benefit payments will be made to claimants for weeks they were eligible/covered under the enhanced unemployment program(s). I’ll continue to post updates as more information comes to hand and you can stay connected via the options below. The cost of running and administering these programs was apparently running into the hundreds of millions of dollars in large states.įurther extending benefits to a relatively small percentage of the population would be politically hard to justify given the falling unemployment rate and persistent issues business are facing with filling open vacancies. The main reason apparently is the overly high cost of running these enhanced UI programs (PUA, PEUC etc), which was originally paid for using federal funding allocated to administer these programs. Per the latest update no state unemployment agency has extended enhanced unemployment benefits, despite already approved stimulus funds being available for states to use and President Biden calling for the states to do so. A Compromise on Extending Unemployment Benefits?.Are unemployment benefits in the stimulus retroactive.State Specific Unemployment Resource and News Pages.2021 Enhanced Unemployment Extensions Under COVID Relief Stimulus Bill. Biden Stimulus Package Unemployment Extensions.Biden Emergency Extension to Pandemic Unemployment Benefits?.For the latest you can join our email newsletter for this and related topics. I will continue to monitor progress on further federal unemployment benefits and you can see the sections below for information on past programs. This is why many states are working to increase benefits and provide additional stimulus payments. Unfortunately PUA claimants, like freelancers or those without easily verifiable income, are left in the lurch since they wouldn’t qualify for traditional state unemployment under current rules.Īnd even if they do qualify, in many states the maximum amount of state unemployment benefits is barely enough to live on under current inflationary conditions. While the pandemic unemployment stimulus programs are unlikely to be resurrected given record levels of employment in 2022 and into 2023, claimants will still however have access to a more streamlined set of state unemployment benefit programs. With the expiry of federal enhanced unemployment benefit programs like PUA, PEUC, $300 FPUC and $100 MEUC in all states, there has been considerable chatter around what happens next and if missing or back payments are still being made.
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