Texas to apply for extra $300 per week in benefits for Texans unemployed due to COVID
Gov. Greg Abbott announced Thursday that the Texas Workforce Commission applied for a federal program that would give Texans who are out of work due to the novel coronavirus’ outbreak an extra $300 in benefits per week.
If approved by the Federal Emergency Management Agency, Texans who are receiving more than $100 of certain state unemployment benefits should receive the additional funds after Aug. 23. The funds will be retroactively applied to the week ending Aug. 1, and Texans currently receiving unemployment benefits from the state should continue to request payments as they normally would, according to a news release.
Eleven states have already been approved by FEMA to offer the extra $300 in benefits, according to the agency.
After an extra $600 per week in federal jobless benefits expired on July 31, President Donald Trump authorized the additional funds in an Aug. 8 executive order. The order had originally required states provide matching funds of $100 per week in order to receive the $300 in federal funds.
The U.S. Department of Labor clarified last week that states would not be required to provide matching funds, and could offer only the $300 in federal benefits per week by counting funds they have already used toward unemployment insurance payments for the state’s portion.
During a Facebook live update Thursday afternoon, Cisco Gamez, a TWC spokesman, said that the state is seeking a roughly $7.2 billion grant from FEMA to cover the additional $300 payments. The additional funds will be available until they run out, new legislation is passed or the program expires, Gamez said.
While states have the option of providing an additional $100 in assistance for a total of $400 worth of extra benefits a week, “no additional state match will be provided outside our normal unemployment insurance state payments,” Gamez said.
According to FEMA’s guidance, states may provide the extra $100 in assistance through funds allocated through the Coronavirus Aid Relief and Economic Security Act.
More than 3 million Texans have applied for unemployment insurance since mid-March, with 61,416 Texans applying for unemployment benefits in the week ending Aug. 15 — a little over 9,100 more applications than the week prior.
When comparing the number of claims received since-mid March to the number received for all of 2019, “that is over six years of claims in just six months time,” Gamez said, with TWC paying over $25.4 billion in benefits through state and federal funds.
“The Lost Wage Assistance program will provide crucial financial support to Texans who have lost their jobs due to the COVID-19 pandemic,” Abbott said in a statement. “Texas is grateful to President Trump for making these funds available to individuals and asks that our federal partners quickly grant this request so that TWC can swiftly administer this funding to Texans.”
Texans who need to apply for unemployment benefits or request payment can do so online at ui.texasworkforce.org.
This story was originally published August 20, 2020 at 9:57 AM.
