The $300 and $400 extra unemployment benefits authorized by President Trump have started to go out in a number of states. At the same time, many states continue to modify their computer systems so that they can begin processing the enhanced unemployment benefits. The process has left many claimants wondering when they will see the boost in their unemployment checks.

To help answer that, we’ve compiled data on all 50 states and the District of Columbia. In addition to the status of each state’s FEMA application and benefit amount, we’ve assembled the latest date on when the extra payments will be released.

-Alabama

FEMA Status: Approved 8/21/2020

Amount: $300

Payments Begin: Started

Alabama begins making the additional payments on September 3, 2020.

-Alaska

FEMA Status: Approved 8/23/2020

Amount: $300

Payments Begin: Late October

In an email reply to a request for comment, a spokesperson for the Department of Labor and Workforce Development said payments would start in about eight weeks from August 24th. A press release of the same date provides additional information.

-Arizona

FEMA Status: Approved 8/15/2020

Amount: $300

Payments Begin: Started

Arizona was the first state to start sending out $300 in extra unemployment benefits in mid-August.

-Arkansas

FEMA Status: Approved 8/25/2020

Amount: $300

Payments Begin: “Weeks away”

Arkansas hasn’t set a date for payments to begin, and according to a local news affiliate, payments were “weeks away” as of the end of August.

-California

FEMA Status: Approved 8/22/2020

Amount: $300

Payments Begin: 9/7/2020

California will start processing LWA claims on September 7, 2020, for a minimum of three weeks. More details can be found here.

-Colorado

FEMA Status: Approved 8/16/2020

Amount: $300

Payments Begin: Mid September

Colorado has estimated that payments will begin in mid-September, according to this news release.

-Connecticut

FEMA Status: Approved 8/24/2020

Amount: $300

Payments Begin: mid-September

Connecticut has announced that it expects LWS payments to go out beginning in mid-September.

-Delaware

FEMA Status: Approved 9/2/2020

Amount: $300

Payments Begin: TBD

The latest official word from the First State was back in August in this press release. It didn’t provide a timeline, but did say that “President Trump’s plan is a Hail Mary that is unnecessarily complicated and will be a nightmare to implement quickly.”

-District of Columbia

FEMA Status: Will apply

Am0unt: $300

Payments Begin: TBD

Our nation’s capital was one of the last to apply for the FEMA program, has yet to be approved, and so far hasn’t released information on when payments will begin.

-Florida

FEMA Status: Approved 8/29/2020

Amount: $300

Payments Begin: 9/11/2020

A news outlet reports that benefits should go out by September 11th. The Florida Department of Economic Opportunity provided this statement on September 4th:

“The Department is working diligently to implement the necessary technology changes to ensure eligible Floridians receive the Lost Wages Assistance (LWA) Program benefits as quickly as possible. The LWA program will allow Florida to offer an additional $300 per week to eligible Reemployment Assistance claimants. To be eligible for this benefit, claimants must have a weekly benefit amount of at least $100 in an approved Reemployment Assistance program and must certify that they are unemployed or partially unemployed due to COVID-19. Payments will be retroactive to the week ending August 1, 2020.”

-Georgia

FEMA Status: Approved 8/23/2020

Amount: $300

Payments Begin: mid-September

According to a recent press release, the Georgia Department of Labor is testing its systems to handle the new payment and expects payments to begin in mid-September.

-Hawaii

FEMA Status: Approved 8/29/2020

Amount: $300

Payments Begin: TBD

Hawaii continues to work on changes to its computer systems required to process the LWA payments. In its latest news release, Gov. David Ige said the state is working to complete these changes “as quickly as possible.”

-Idaho

FEMA Status: Approved 8/19/2020

Amount: $300

Payments Begin: Started

According to the Idaho Department of Labor, payments began last week. Specifically,

Weeks ending 8/1/2020, 8/8/2020, 8/15/2020, and 8/22/2020 are being issued during the week ending Sept. 5, 2020

Week ending 8/29/2020 issue date is pending and subject to available funds.

-Illinois

FEMA Status: Approved 9/1/2020

Amount: $300

Payments Begin: TBD

In an FAQ page, the Illinois Department of Employment Security said, “IDES will work as hard and quickly as possible to distribute LWA as soon as grants funds are received.”

-Indiana

FEMA Status: Approved 8/21/2020

Amount: $300

Payments Begin: mid to late September

According to one news report, LWA payments will go out in the next two to three weeks. An FAQ page provides more details.

-Iowa

FEMA Status: Approved 8/15/2020

Amount: $300

Payments Begin: Started

The Iowa Workforce Development began making payments on September 4, 2020.

-Kansas

FEMA Status: Will apply

Amount: $400

Payments Begin: late September at the earliest.

Kansas has indicated that it will apply to the FEMA program, but so far there has been no announcement on the approval of its application. The Kansas Department of Labor published an FAQ page that says payments will go out “no sooner than late September.”

-Kentucky

FEMA Status: Approved 8/21/2020

Amount: $400

Payments Begin: Early September

The best estimate we can find is early September. You can find updates on the Kentucky Career Center website, which currently states the following: “While the application is approved, reconfiguring the computer systems to pay the $400 is likely to take about two weeks. Therefore, benefits recipients should not expect the payments until sometime in early September.”

-Louisiana

FEMA Status: Approved 8/15/2020

Amount: $300

Payments Begin: Started

Louisiana began making LWA payments in August.

-Maine

FEMA Status: Approved 8/25/2020

Amount: $300

Payments Begin: mid to late September

A recent press release states that it will take three weeks to put in place the systems necessary to process payments.

-Maryland

FEMA Status: Approved 8/20/2020

Amount: $300

Payments Begin: late September

Maryland has announced that LWA payments will begin in late September on a “first-come, first-served basis.”

-Massachusetts

FEMA Status: Approved 8/21/2020

Amount: $300

Payments Begin: Started

Massachusetts began sending out LWA payments on September 2nd. However, “those who are eligible for LWA through the standard unemployment assistance program accessed through UI Online, benefits are expected to be disbursed on or before Sept. 15, 2020.”

-Michigan

FEMA Status: Approved 8/21/2020

Amount: $300

Payments Begin: week of 9/7/2020

News outlets report that Michigan will begin sending out $300 payments the week of September 7th. Updates on Michigan’s labor department website can be found here.

-Minnesota

FEMA Status: Approved 8/29/2020

Amount: $300

Payments Begin: Started

Minnesota began processing payments on September 4, 2020. In a statement, the Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development announced the following schedule for upcoming payments:

“On Friday, September 4, Minnesota received federal funds for the first five weeks of Lost Wages Assistance. We began making Lost Wages Assistance payments immediately. Because we need to issue more than one million separate Lost Wages Assistance payments (along with the regular weekly UI benefit payments), this process will take a few days to complete. Here is a tentative schedule of when we will pay each week of Lost Wages Assistance:

Week of July 26 – August 1: Friday, September 4th

Week of August 2 – August 8: Sunday, September 6th

Week of August 9 – August 15: Monday, September 7th

Week of August 16 – August 22: Tuesday, September 8th

Week of August 23 – August 29: Wednesday, September 9th

-Mississippi

FEMA Status: Approved 8/22/2020

Amount: $300

Payments Begin: mid to late September

According to a Mississippi Department of Employment Security news release, payments should begin “three to four weeks” from August 22nd.

-Missouri

FEMA Status: Approved 8ths/16/2020

Amount: $300

Payments Begin: Started

Missouri began sending payments out in August.

-Montana

FEMA Status: Approved 8/18/2020

Amount: $400

Payments Begin: Started

Montana began sending out LWA payments in August.

-Nebraska

FEMA Status: Will apply

Amount: TBD

Payments Begin: mid-September at the earliest.

The cornhusker state was the last state to decide whether to apply for the program. John Albin, Nebraska Commissioner of Labor, announced on September 4th that Nebraska would apply to the program. The report indicated that payments would go out in two weeks at the earliest.

-Nevada

FEMA Status: Applied

Amount: $300

Payments Begin: TBD

Nevada was one of the last states to apply to the FEMA program, and approval is still pending.

New Hampshire

FEMA Status: Approved 8/24/2020

Amount: $300

Payments Begin: 9/10/2020

According to an FAQ page, New Hampshire expects LWA payments to be available beginning September 10th.

-New Jersey

FEMA Status: Approved 9/4/2020

Amount: $300

Payments Begin: October

As one of the last states to apply to the program, New Jersey still has a lot of work to do to modify its computer systems to send out the payments. The current projection is that payments will go out as a lump sum in October.

-New Mexico

FEMA Status: Approved 8/15/2020

Amount: $300

Payments Begin: 2nd week of September.

-New York

FEMA Status:

Amount: $300

Payments Begin: TBD

New York was one of the last states to apply to the program. They’ve also said it will take some time to adjust their computer systems so that the $300 payments can be processed. Here’s a fact sheet the NY Department of Labor released with details.

-North Carolina

FEMA Status: Approved 8/21/2020

Amount: $300

Payments Begin: Started

North Carolina has started issuing payments and more will be released over the next several days.

-North Dakota

FEMA Status: Approved 8/31/2020

Amount: $300

Payments Begin: mid-September

-Ohio

FEMA Status: Approved 8/26/2020

Amount: $300

Payments Begin: mid to late September

-Oklahoma

FEMA Status: Approved 8/18/2020

Amount: $300

Payments Begin: mid to late September

A notice on the OESC website notes that “exact start date and guidance on back pay will be issued closer to that time.”

-Oregon

FEMA Status: Approved 8/28/2020

Amount: $300

Payments Begin: TBD

A recent news release states that when an expected payment date is known, it will be shared on the Employment Department’s website (unemployment.oregon.gov).

-Pennsylvania

FEMA Status: Approved 8/24/2020

Amount: $300

Payments Begin: by 9/14/2020

According to one news report, Pennsylvania will start issuing payments by September 14th. Unlike most other states, claimants must complete a Lost Wages Assistance certification.

-Rhode Island

FEMA Status: Approved 8/22/2020

Amount: $300

Payments Begin: 9/12/2020

According to a recent press release, a lump sum payment will be sent out on September 12th.

-South Carolina

FEMA Status: Approved 9/1/2020

Amount: $300

Payments Begin: mid to late September

According to a press release dated September 1, 2020, it will take two to three weeks to modify the computer systems before payments can be released.

-South Dakota

FEMA Status: Will not apply

-Tennessee

FEMA Status: Approved 8/22/2020

Amount: $300

Payments Begin: Started

According to one news report, LWA payments began about a week ago.

-Texas

FEMA Status: Approved 8/21/2020

Amount: $300

Payments Begin: Started

-Utah

FEMA Status: Approved 8/16/2020

Amount: $300

Payments Begin: mid-September

According to a press release dated August 17, 2020, it will take the state up to four weeks to begin processing payments.

-Vermont

FEMA Status: Approved 8/22/2020

Amount: $400

Payments Begin: mid-September

In a statement dated August 25, 2020, Vermont said payments would begin “in the coming weeks.” Additional information will be posted here as it becomes available.

-Virginia

FEMA Status: Approved 8/26/2020

Amount: $300

Payments Begin: 9/30/2020

The Virginia Employment Commission announced that it expects to begin sending out payments at the end of the month. An NBC affiliate has reported that payments could go out as early as the week of September 20th.

-Washington

FEMA Status: Approved 8/24/2020

Amount: $300

Payments Begin: Week of 9/21/2020

-West Virginia

FEMA Status: Approved 8/27/2020

Amount: $400

Payments Begin: TBD

The latest press release does not give a timeline for payments.

-Wisconsin

FEMA Status: Approved 9/1/2020

Amount: $300

Payments Begin: November

According to the state’s employment website, programming will take eight weeks to complete.

-Wyoming

FEMA Status: Approved 8/28/2020

Amount: $300

Payments Begin: TBD

In a press release dated August 23, 2020, Holly McKamey Simoni, Workforce Programs Administrator for the Wyoming Department of Workforce Services, said “[w]e will work diligently to complete this process as quickly as possible.”

Source: Rob Berger/forbes.com

Date Posted: Sunday, September 6th, 2020 , Total Page Views: 1847