Trump signed pandemic relief bill. When will jobless Kansans get new unemployment?
Jobless Kansans awaiting additional unemployment assistance from the new pandemic relief bill could go the next two weeks without those payments.
President Donald Trump signed the new federal COVID-19 stimulus bill Sunday night after previously threatening to veto the measure that passed Congress with bipartisan support before the Christmas holiday.
Included in the sweeping bill is an extension of the federal unemployment programs that offer additional weeks of benefits and extend payment to the self-employed and contract workers. It also adds an extra $300 per week for some.
However, similar programs expired Dec. 26 in Kansas. The president signed the bill after those unemployment programs lapsed and at the start of a new week. That sets back payments for about one week since unemployment benefits can’t be paid for the week that began before the bill was signed.
Workers counting on the unemployment could wait yet another two weeks to receive the aid as the Kansas Department of Labor needs guidance from the federal labor agency on how to implement the programs.
The state can’t issue the new payments until it receives that guidance, which could take up to two weeks.
The new federal unemployment programs include:
- Federal Pandemic Unemployment Compensation: Some jobless Kansas will receive an additional $300 a week in unemployment, half of the extra $600 that the prior CARES Act provided through the summer.
- Pandemic Unemployment Assistance: Workers not traditionally covered by unemployment, such as the self-employed and contract workers, will receive an additional 11 weeks of benefits, up to a maximum of 50 weeks.
- Pandemic Emergency Unemployment Compensation: Some people who are jobless who have exhausted traditional benefits in Kansas will receive another 11 weeks of payments, up to a maximum of 24 weeks.
In most cases, the unemployment programs are slated to end the week ending March 13.
Each program is intended to offer an extra 11 weeks of benefits. It was not immediately clear if the KDOL will make retroactive payments to cover the delays. A spokesperson said the agency will communicate information when it becomes available.
KDOL does not expect significant disruptions once it begins to implement the new programs, the agency said.
“While the agency waits for that guidance, it is diligently working to build additional capacity within its legacy computer systems to process the revised federal benefits and bring much-needed relief to eligible claimants,” the agency said in a news release. The dated technology at KDOL has been overwhelmed with claims during the pandemic.
Existing benefit payments outside the three federal programs will not be impacted by the setback.
The federal relief bill also includes new requirements in state unemployment systems, such as implementing return-to-work conditions for those who refuse to return to work or accept an offer.
Self-employed, contract and “gig” workers receiving unemployment under the Pandemic Unemployment Assistance program must also provide additional verification of their identity and employment situation under the new bill.
Separately, an Extended Benefits program that offered another 13 weeks of unemployment ended in Kansas this month.
Gov. Laura Kelly on Monday temporarily waived the “waiting week” requirement, a week in which unemployment benefits aren’t paid in a new benefit year. Since Kelly signed the executive order, the federal government will fund 50% of the first week of regular unemployment until March 14, according to the governor’s office.
“Kansans who have lost their jobs as a result of COVID-19 cannot afford to wait a week to receive the unemployment benefits they need to make rent payments or feed their families,” Kelly said in a statement. “This executive order will be crucial in our state’s ongoing response to the pandemic and to ensuring unemployed Kansans can access their benefits as soon as possible.”
Since March 15, the KDOL has paid out more than 3.4 million weekly claims totaling over $2.4 billion between the regular and federal unemployment programs.
For more information or to apply for unemployment benefits, visit www.GetKansasBenefits.gov.
This story was originally published December 28, 2020 at 3:45 PM.
