PA Gives Update On $300 COVID Unemployment Program

HARRISBURG, PA — Pennsylvanians who are out of work during the coronavirus pandemic will start getting an additional $300 in unemployment benefits sooner than expected.

Labor and Industry Secretary Jerry Oleksiak announced that Pennsylvania has put the federal Lost Wages Assistance program in place more quickly than anticipated. The state will start making payments to eligible workers on Thursday and those workers will start receiving the payments as early as Monday, Sept. 14.

Pennsylvania applied for, and was accepted into, the federal lost-wages program in late August, after the additional $600 federal unemployment benefit previously approved by Congress ended.

The commonwealth will get nearly $1.5 billion through the temporary program, Oleksiak said.

The plan is administered by FEMA and uses money that had previously been earmarked for disaster relief. It also requires states to set up new processes for distributing the money.

As Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf announced that the state was applying for the program, he called it "not a true unemployment insurance program" and called on Congress to pass a more permanent package.

Depending upon how many states opt into the program, the money set aside could be used up within five or six weeks.

Wolf and other Democrats, including leaders in Congress, have pushed for renewing the $600 unemployment bonus as the nation's economy continues to recover from coronavirus-related shutdowns and closures. Some Republicans have argued that the additional benefit is too much and discourages some unemployed workers from seeking new jobs.

How To Get The $300 Benefit

To qualify for the extra $300, the program requires that workers already get at least $100 per week in benefits from:

• Regular Unemployment Compensation (UC);
• Pandemic Emergency Unemployment Compensation (PEUC);
• Pandemic Unemployment Assistance (PUA);
• Extended Benefits (EB);
• Short-Time Compensation (STC) or Shared Work; and
• Trade Readjustment Allowance (TRA).

They must also certify that they are unemployed or partially unemployed due to disruptions caused by COVID-19.

Beginning after 6 a.m. on Sunday, Sept. 6, claimants who need to complete the certification process should visit www.uc.pa.gov/cert and log in using their PIN as if they are filing a biweekly claim. Select the "Complete LWA Certification" button and fill out the certification. Again, this process will only need to be completed one time.

Payments through the program will be made for the previous claim weeks below:

• August 1, 2020
• August 8, 2020
• August 15, 2020
• August 22, 2020
• August 29, 2020

Workers who may qualify for LWA but have not yet received payment for an approved week from a qualifying program should still apply as soon as possible.

The grant provides the extra $300 per week through December or until the FEMA money is exhausted.