LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) – Thousands of jobless Kentuckians and Hoosiers are in line for an extension of unemployment benefits into March 2021, with a $300 weekly boost, thanks to the $900 billion coronavirus relief bill that was rushed through Congress on Monday.
But officials in both states said the timing of the extra payments is uncertain. And Kentucky officials confirmed that many claimants will have a gap in their benefits, as this is the last payable week for benefit programs authorized in March by the CARES Act.
States haven’t received instructions from the U.S. Department of Labor as to how to implement the new unemployment aid because the $900 billion bill isn't finalized despite passing the House and Senate by wide margins on Monday.
President Trump, who had been expected to sign the bill, instead railed against it in a video on Tuesday, threatening to torpedo the legislation and calling for larger direct payments to Americans. If he vetoes it, Congress would have to vote again to override his veto.
Once the bill is finalized, Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear said the state still has some administrative hurdles with its “antiquated” unemployment computer system to get the supplemental $300 per week payments out the door.
“We are going to have to, with the new CARES Act, go in and reprogram because they (the federal government) changed, once again, who qualifies for this extra $300,” Beshear said at his news briefing Tuesday.
Beshear’s administration has struggled to get unemployment payments to Kentuckians. As of earlier this month, the state said it still has about 86,000 “unresolved initial claims” for jobless benefits.
On Wednesday, a spokesman for Beshear's Labor Cabinet acknowledged that "there will be a lapse in payments, as the programs (created by the CARES Act) end on Dec. 26."
"We are awaiting further guidance from the U.S. Department of Labor to know all the parameters of the unemployment programs recently passed by Congress," said Kevin Kinnaird of the Kentucky Labor Cabinet. "We can’t begin to make changes to the (unemployment insurance) system until we know all of the details and receive the guidance."
Meanwhile, Indiana’s Department of Workforce Development said it’s “preparing to implement” the new unemployment aid, but a spokesman couldn’t comment on the timing of the payments.
“When the bill is signed by the President, the U.S. Department of Labor will provide guidance on how to implement the new provisions. (Indiana) DWD will implement the new provisions as quick as possible,” said Scott Olson, a spokesman for the agency.
The $300 weekly boost is half of the weekly boost provided by the original CARES Act, which ran out at the end of July.
The CARES Act also extended benefits to many workers and others who wouldn’t be eligible through a program called Pandemic Unemployment Assistance, which expires this week. The new bill extends that program, called PUA, to March 14.
“The extension of otherwise-expiring unemployment benefits and the extra $300 a week are the least Congress can do to help Kentuckians through the next phase of this crisis,” said Jason Bailey, executive director of the Kentucky Center for Economic Policy, a group that has advocated for robust federal aid in the pandemic. “But the federal government will have to come back as soon as possible in the new year to prevent another catastrophic loss of benefits when they expire again in the spring.”
