AUSTIN, Texas — Those of you out of work due to COVID-19 may soon get an extra $300 a week on your unemployment payment.
This comes nearly two weeks after President Donald Trump issued a memo to FEMA allowing it to make CARES Act money available for states to use on extra unemployment payments.
Texas applied for the Lost Wage Assistance (LWA). Once approved, it will give an extra $300 to people who are out of work due to COVID-19.
Texas Workforce Commission Executive Director Ed Serna hopes the approval will be made and funding will be in place by Sunday, Aug. 23 – no guarantees.
“The complicating factors are, one, we have to get the funding. Then, two, we have to make sure that our computer systems are dispersing that funding in such a way that meets the requirements of the grant. We're estimating that from the time we get the funding it may be a week before people start seeing that money in their accounts,” said Serna.
FEMA’s website lists the qualifications:
A state may provide supplemental lost wages payments from the week of unemployment ending August 1, 2020, to individuals (“claimants”) currently eligible for at least $100 per week in unemployment insurance compensation from any of the following:
Unemployment compensation, including regular State Unemployment Compensation, Unemployment Compensation for Federal Employees (UCFE) and Unemployment Compensation for Ex-Service members (UCX)
Pandemic Emergency Unemployment Compensation (PEUC)
Pandemic Unemployment Assistance (PUA)
Extended Benefits (EB)
Short-Time Compensation (STC)
Trade Readjustment Allowance (TRA)
Payments under the Self-Employment Assistance (SEA) program
Claimants will be required to self-certify that they are unemployed or partially unemployed due to disruptions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic as part of the initial unemployment insurance claims process and or required weekly recertifications.
Serna said $300 a week will be added to the regular payment benefit received bi-weekly, no need to apply. TWC will automatically send the money to qualified claimants. The money is backdated to the week ending Aug. 1.
“We want to get this money out as quickly as possible,” said Serna.
The program may not last long. Trump ordered FEMA to cap the Lost Wage Assistance program at $44 billion across the nation. FEMA’s total disaster relief money cannot go below $25 billion, shows the Executive Memorandum.
The latest report released July 31 shows the account is at $74 billion.
No matter what, Serna said, Texas won’t qualify for the LWA money after November.
“We didn't have enough of the match [requirement] to go to the end of the year. So we are going to be requesting enough money to get us into November,” said Serna.
The program will end if Congress passes a new stimulus.
Serna said to expect a notice from TWC about your lost wage assistance sometime next week.
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