Pennsylvania Approved For $300 A Week Unemployment Program

HARRISBURG, PA — Pennsylvania has been approved to join a federal lost-wages program that will provide an extra $300 per week to eligible unemployed workers.

Pennsylvania will get nearly $1.5 billion through the temporary program, Department of Labor & Industry Secretary Jerry Oleksiak announced Tuesday.

"The recently ended $600 weekly federal benefit was a true lifeline to many Pennsylvanians and I know you are anxious for these new payments to begin," Oleksiak said. "L&I is working as quickly as possible to evaluate what it will take to implement this program and begin paying the $300 weekly supplement in Pennsylvania, while awaiting final program guidance from the federal government. We will get this money into the pockets of the eligible Pennsylvanians who need it and will be sure to keep everyone updated throughout this complex process."

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

Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf had announced Friday that the state was applying for the program, while calling the plan "not a true unemployment insurance program" and calling on Congress to pass a more permanent package.

"The president's convoluted, short-term program, which will likely only provide payments for five or six weeks, will pay those who are eligible only half as much as before and will make 30,000 Pennsylvanians ineligible to continue receiving an additional weekly benefit," Wolf said.

Wolf has called on Congress to renew the $600 weekly unemployment benefit that was part of its initial coronavirus relief plan. The Democrat-controlled House backed a plan extending the additional benefit, but the Republican-led Senate adjourned without approving a new relief plan.

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.

Payments will be retroactive from August 1, 2020.

The grant will provide the extra $300 weekly payment until the FEMA funding is exhausted, the federal government enacts a new law, or Congress extends the recently ended Federal Pandemic Unemployment Compensation program.