Searching for your $300 unemployment benefits? In South Carolina, you're far from alone

Island Packet (Hilton Head, SC)

Sep. 17--More than two weeks have passed since South Carolina was approved to receive extra unemployment benefits from the federal government. But many are still waiting for relief. Where is the money?

Dozens of states, including North Carolina, have begun distributing the money, and several have already depleted their funds. Because the payments come from a $44 billion Federal Emergency Management Agency grant with a funding cap, time and money are running out. The last day payments can be allocated is Dec. 26, if funding has not been exhausted before then.

"No one wants to sit at home and wait for government money," said one unemployed hospitality worker who used to work in Hilton Head and is now in Charleston. He requested anonymity citing fear of retribution. "It's not the way I think. It's not the way I was raised. It's not the way I raised my kids. It's not the way to function in society, at least that's our core belief."

The Lost Wages Assistance program offers an extra $300 per week to those eligible to receive at least $100 in weekly state or federal unemployment benefits. Only those who have been unemployed or partially unemployed due to the pandemic are eligible. Payments are retroactive to Aug. 1, and states approved initially receive funding for three weeks of unemployment benefits, which can be extended weekly for up to three more weeks with FEMA approval.

South Carolina Department of Employment and Workforce media relations specialist Heather Biance said the state has proactively requested approval for the additional three weeks of funding, and is waiting to hear back from FEMA.

The LWA program was created by President Donald Trump in response to the end of the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security Act's UI program, which gave unemployed individuals an extra $600 in benefits. Congress has yet to pass another relief package to provide unemployed Americans with aid.

Since the pandemic began, nearly 740,000 initial claims have been filed for unemployment insurance benefits. As of July 2020, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, roughly 8.6 percent of South Carolinians are unemployed. Through a variety of state and federal programs, including an extra $600 in weekly benefits per person under an expired CARES Act policy, DEW has cashed out $4 billion in unemployment benefits over the past six months.

The hospitality worker said he knows at least 100 people in the hospitality industry who are waiting for their LWA funds.

"We don't know how much, we don't know the date, and the website is down," he said. "We don't know if they are working on it, nobody will say anything."

Currently, only basic information on the LWA program is available on the SC DEW website. It notes that additional resources are coming soon, and that updates on the timeline for the payments will be given as soon as they are available.

"As we stated when approved by FEMA, it will take a few weeks to implement this new federal program in our system.," Biance said. "As with all the federal programs we've implemented under the CARES Act, it takes time to configure and test the system to ensure accuracy and compliance with both FEMA and DOL standards."

This story has been updated with additional information from Department of Employment and Workforce media relations specialist Heather Biance.

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