Unemployment Relief On The Way To New Jersey​—​In October

NEW JERSEY - After deriding the executive order President Donald Trump issued in order to ease the ongoing economic fallout caused by the coronavirus pandemic, Governor Phil Murphy said Wednesday New Jersey would seek the $399 weekly federal unemployment extension.

New Jersey is applying for the $300 benefit, because it can't afford the estimated $1.7 billion for the additional $100, said state Labor Commissioner Rob Asaro-Angelo, noting that it may not be until October until the money is distributed as guidance from the Federal Emergency Management Agency and U.S. Department of Labor has not been forthcoming.

“I know that’s not what someone wants to hear who wants their money now,” he said. Asaro-Angelo also expected the payment to come as a lump sum.

Asaro-Angelo also said that the program cannot use existing unemployment infrastructure because it is an entirely new program. He said that, as of now, New Jersey is not in a race with other states for the funding.

"The general consensus is that the funds would last between seven and nine weeks," he said.

Initially the plan called for states to pay $100 for each worker to get the extra $300, but it later said as long as the state was paying the $100 in regular benefits, it could apply to the program.

Murphy had said at the time states are going broke and millions of Americans are unemployed and this solution calls for states to create a new program they can't afford to begin with and don't know how to administer because of this uncertainty.

Even now, officials are waiting for clarity on how those eligible can apply, noting that it has to be a COVID-19 related cause.

Murphy again called out Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell to bring his legislative body back from recess and reauthorize the $600 federal weekly unemployment benefit that expired in July.

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