LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) – Up to 20,704 Kentuckians who still haven’t received the extra $400 per week unemployment supplement from President Trump’s executive-order program last summer could still get the money, state officials say.
Kentucky has asked the Federal Emergency Management Agency for a grant to cover up to six weeks of payments to 14,451 people who are eligible and up to 6,163 people who were ruled ineligible for the "Lost Wages Assistance" program but have appealed, according to Buddy Hoskinson, interim director of the Kentucky Office of Unemployment Insurance.
“As soon as we get that approval, we will set up payments for that population immediately,” Hoskinson told lawmakers during a hearing on Thursday, referring to the 14,451 who are eligible for the money but haven’t been paid.
About 138,000 Kentuckians received at least one payment through the program, which covered up to six weeks of joblessness from late July through early September. The funds were actually paid out weekly from early September through early October.
Trump redirected about $44 billion in FEMA disaster aid to boost unemployment checks amid gridlock in Congress over extending the $600 per week, nationwide supplement that ran dry at the end of July.
Some Kentuckians didn’t get the money because they failed to complete an online certification attesting that their joblessness was related to COVID-19 by the time the payments were cleared, according to yesterday’s legislative testimony and information from the Labor Cabinet on Friday.
The 14,451 represents those who completed the certification later through a prompt state officials place on their account upon logging into the state’s unemployment website. Another 6,163 have appealed their ineligibility, perhaps because they completed the certification incorrectly.
The state has requested FEMA funds to cover payments to both groups of people, Hoskinson told lawmakers. Those who have appealed would still need to win their appeals and become eligible.
Officials didn’t say how much money was needed in a statement sent Friday.
“The Kentucky Labor Cabinet and (unemployment office) continue to work each and every day to ensure Kentuckians receive the benefits for which they qualify and desperately need,” the cabinet said.
The Trump program was available only to those who already qualified for at least $100 a week in unemployment insurance. In Kentucky, people can get as little as $39 a week based on their wage history.
