As Lost Wages program ends, Pennsylvania officials urges people eligible for extra unemployment benefit to apply soon

Pennsylvania’s share of federal money for the $300 per week Lost Wages Assistance benefit is running out, and those who are eligible should apply soon, state officials said Thursday.

People who are eligible for state unemployment benefits or one of the federal unemployment programs created in response to the coronavirus pandemic can receive the $300 per week payments in addition to unemployment benefits for the weeks ending Aug. 1 through Sept. 5.

“If you are eligible for those weeks you will be paid,” Oleksiak said.

But Pennsylvania Labor & Industry Secretary Jerry Oleksiak said Thursday that the Federal Emergency Management Agency has run out of money for the program. When the $2.8 billion it allocated for Pennsylvania is gone, the FEMA will not provide any more, he said.

“It’s critical to apply for this program as soon as you can,” Oleksiak said in a town hall meeting for residents with questions about unemployment compensation.

President Donald Trump authorized FEMA to use $44 billion from its disaster relief fund for the Lost Wages program. It was intended to be a partial replacement for the $600 a week Federal Pandemic Unemployment Compensation payments that ended in July. Oleksiak last month called the program “a Band-Aid rather than an actual solution,” and joined other state officials in urging Congress to extend the $600 payments.

To qualify for the Lost Wages payment, people receiving benefits from state unemployment compensation, state or federal extended benefits, shared work or trade readjustment allowances must certify that they are partially or completely unemployed as a result of the pandemic. Self-employed or freelance workers receiving Pandemic Unemployment Assistance benefits are already required to certify the pandemic is the cause of their unemployment.

Recipients must also qualify for at least $100 per week in benefits and dependent allowances to qualify for Lost Wages payments.

Morning Call reporter Peter Hall can be reached at 610-820-6581 or [email protected].

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