Vermont Business Magazine FEMA Administrator Pete Gaynor has approved Vermont for a FEMA grant under the Lost Wages Assistance program. FEMA’s grant funding will allow Vermont to provide $300 per week -- on top of their regular unemployment benefit -- to those unemployed due to COVID-19. FEMA will work with Vermont Governor Phil Scott to implement a system to make this funding available to Vermont residents. Governor Scott proposed last week to use an additional $20 million in pandemic relief funding in order to add another $100 a week to meet the maximum $400 per week in additional benefits.
This benefit follows on from the original $600 additional weekly benefit that was passed in Congress to response to the pandemic. However, that CARES Act money expired in Vermont on July 25.
The Vermont Department of Labor has begun implementing this program and expects to start issuing payments to eligible Vermonters in the coming weeks.
Governor Scott explained at his press briefing Tuesday that the federal $300 payments will be backdated to August 1 and will be for only about three weeks worth of benefits. He said there is a limited amount of money. The extra $100 from the state could last a week or two beyond that until the funding ran out. That would bring the total benefit to about $1,200 for someone qualifying for these COVID relief LWA unemployment benefits.
Labor Commissioner Michael Harrington said recipients will receive a separate check for this new program. So, they would get two payments, one for their regular UI benefit and another for this extra relief.
Harrington said this was to reduce complications in the processing. Under the expired $600 relief program, recipients received one payment containing both allocations. They will not have to undertake any additional paperwork.
However, the FEMA guidance allows states to provide supplemental lost wages payments to eligible individuals retroactively. The first round of funding from FEMA covers the initial three weeks of the program beginning with the week ending August 1, at which time, states can apply for additional funding, should the program remain open.
Scott said Tuesday: "FEMA has approved Vermont's request for an initial grant award of $35.8 million for the Lost Wage Assistance (LWA) program. The LWA program provides an additional $300 per week to eligible individuals filing for unemployment insurance.
'This supplemental assistance will help those who haven’t been able to return to work through this difficult period, and we continue to urge Congress and the White House to work together on a longer-term solution for these displaced workers.
"I have also requested $20 million in Coronavirus Relief funding from the Vermont Legislature to provide an additional $100 per week to eligible claimants, bringing the total benefit to $400 per week.
"This added benefit is a necessary step as we continue to navigate the uncertainty that this crisis brings our way. Using CRF to add financial security and peace of mind to those hit hardest by the pandemic is crucial in supporting our economy, communities and families."
Governor Scott said last week he would see the state's $100 contribution as a "stop gap" measure until Congress "hopefully" passes more comprehensive legislation. That $20 million would last only about a month, as it would cost the state upwards of $5 million a week.
CARES Act money, of which Vermont has nearly $200 million in reserve, can be used for this additional unemployment benefit, but Scott also wants to use a substantial part of it to support businesses through grants. Scott said even that money is not enough to support the economy. It cannot be used in any case for state of local government budget shortfalls.
Congress would need to allocate more funding or allow the states more flexibility in how it is used to allow for budget shortfalls.
On August 8, 2020, President Trump made available up to $44 billion from FEMA’s Disaster Relief Fund to provide financial assistance to Americans who have lost wages due to the COVID-19 pandemic. On Saturday, the state of Vermont agreed to administer a lost wages program for its citizens who are unemployed due to COVID-19.
FEMA said in a statement that it looks forward to working with the governors of additional states who agree to administer a lost wages program to bring financial relief to unemployed Americans.
FEMA grants for lost wages supplemental payments will continue until any of these conditions are met:
- FEMA expends $44 billion from the Disaster Relief Fund (DRF).
- The DRF balance has reached $25 billion.
- Enactment of legislation providing supplemental Federal unemployment compensation, or similar compensation, is for unemployed or partially employed individuals due to COVID-19.
- The program end date is no later than December 27, 2020.
FEMA grant funding to each state will be based on the state’s projected estimate of the amount of lost wages supplemental payments to be made per week, the estimate of eligible claimants, and a planning estimate for the state, inclusive of FEMA’s budgetary authority.
Eligibility
A state may provide supplemental lost wages payments from the week of unemployment ending August 1, 2020, to individuals (“claimants”) currently eligible for at least $100 per week in unemployment insurance compensation from any of the following:
- Unemployment compensation, including regular State Unemployment Compensation, Unemployment Compensation for Federal Employees (UCFE) and Unemployment Compensation for Ex-Service members (UCX)
- Pandemic Emergency Unemployment Compensation (PEUC)
- Pandemic Unemployment Assistance (PUA)
- Extended Benefits (EB)
- Short-Time Compensation (STC)
- Trade Readjustment Allowance (TRA)
- Payments under the Self-Employment Assistance (SEA) program
Claimants will be required to self-certify that they are unemployed or partially unemployed due to disruptions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic as part of the initial unemployment insurance claims process and or required weekly recertifications.
Cost Share
States may provide claimants a lost wages supplement of up to $400, composed of a $300 federal contribution from the Disaster Relief Fund and an additional amount up to $100 from state funds.
The state-funded portion may be sourced from the Coronavirus Aid Relief and Economic Security fund allocation. The total lost wages supplemental payment may not exceed $400.
States may instead provide claimants the lost wages supplement of $300 paid entirely from the $300 federal contribution and satisfy the match, with no additional state payout, by leveraging existing state funding used to pay regular state unemployment benefits. In this case, the state must demonstrate at the aggregate level that the total of its state-funded unemployment benefits to claimants receiving the lost wages supplement were at least 25 percent of the total lost wages assistance benefits paid in conjunction with all of the unemployment programs listed above.
To see a list of states previously approved for lost wages assistance, go to: https://www.fema.gov/fact-sheet/lost-wages-assistance-approved-states
To learn more about FEMA’s lost wages supplemental payment assistance, visit: https://www.fema.gov/fact-sheet/fema-lost-wages-supplemental-payment-assistance
Source: WASHINGTON -- FEMA 8.22.2020