Additional unemployment benefits totaling $1,800 start next week, Georgia officials say
The first round of additional unemployment benefits totaling $1,800 is expected to hit bank accounts by early next week, according to the Georgia Department of Labor.
Thousands of Georgians will receive an extra $300 in supplemental payments per week as part of the Lost Wages Assistance program. Six weeks of jobless benefits will be disbursed in two batches, with the first $900 payment going out early next week and the second payment arriving by the end of next week.
“The GDOL recently received approval for all six weeks of LWA benefits,” officials said in a Thursday news release. “These will be LWA benefits for weeks ending August 1 through September 5.”
Residents receiving unemployment insurance benefits of at least $100 are eligible for the LWA payments. The program, created via an executive order signed by President Donald Trump over the summer, is funded by the Federal Emergency Management Administration’s (FEMA) Disaster Relief Fund.
Claimants must also be unemployed or partially employed as a result of the coronavirus pandemic, according to the Georgia DOL. The virus forced thousands of businesses to shutter, and while some have since reopened, the state’s work force is still struggling to rebound.
The additional payments come after the $600-a-week federal payments ran out in July, WSB-TV reported.
“We understood the President’s Executive Order was contingent upon the availability of funds,” Georgia Labor Commissioner Mark Butler said in a statement. “Although the six weeks of benefits wasn’t what many had hoped for, the additional support will make a big difference to some struggling to avoid eviction.”
To check eligibility, claimants should check their My UI Portal on the Georgia DOL website.
Since the start of the pandemic, the department said it has paid over $13 billion in state and federal benefits, including $196 million in regular unemployment benefits.
This story was originally published September 10, 2020 at 5:50 PM.