Wyoming to apply for $300-per-week unemployment benefit from feds

Aug. 21--CHEYENNE -- The Wyoming Department of Workforce Services announced Friday that the state will be applying for the weekly $300 added unemployment benefits created recently by an executive order from President Donald Trump.

Wyoming joins a growing list of states that have applied for the funding. As of Thursday, applications from 11 states had been approved by the Federal Emergency Management Agency, according to CBS News.

Assuming Wyoming is approved as others have been, it's unclear when the additional funding would show up for residents receiving unemployment benefits.

DWS Workforce Programs Administrator Holly McKamey Simoni said the state's Unemployment Insurance division is tweaking its claims system to more quickly process the extra benefits.

"We will work diligently to complete this process as quickly as possible," Simoni said in a statement.

It also remains to be seen how long the added unemployment benefits will last. The program would expire once its $44 billion allocation is exhausted, or if Congress passes additional unemployment benefits sometime this fall.

"I think in most of the other states, the thought is, 'Let's get through until Congress gets back and puts their plan in place,'" DWS Communications Manager Ty Stockton said Friday.

The program, which the president authorized Aug. 8, is also being coordinated with help from the Wyoming Office of Homeland Security, which frequently works with FEMA.

"We are familiar with the process, and are pleased to lend technical assistance to DWS as they provide aid to those who have lost wages as a result of the pandemic," Wyoming Office of Homeland Security Director Lynn Budd said.

The added benefits will be available only to claimants who are unemployed or partially unemployed as a direct result of the COVID-19 pandemic. For each week an eligible claimant receives at least $100 in state or federal unemployment benefits, the Lost Wages Assistance Fund will contribute $300.

In June, Wyoming's unemployment rate sat at 7.6%, down from a mid-pandemic peak of 9.2% in April. A report on the state's July unemployment numbers will be released next week.

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