Hawaii will apply to participate in a new unemployment insurance “plus-up” program that would provide an additional $300 in benefits to the unemployed.
The Lost Wages Assistance (LWA) Program, which falls under the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), was created by President Donald Trump via executive order earlier this month following the July 31 expiration of the unemployment $600 weekly benefit.
Upon approval, Hawaii will offer an additional unemployment compensation benefit of $300 per week to eligible unemployment recipients. To qualify for this benefit, recipients must be eligible for at least $100 in weekly benefit and must certify that they are unemployed or partially unemployed due to the disruptions caused by COVID-19.
The president’s plan called on states to kick in money of their own to contribute an additional $100 a week. Ige’s announcement didn’t indicate what he would do about the $100.
Payments would be retroactive to Aug. 1, Ige said.
“This will bring relief to many who are still unemployed due to the impact of the coronavirus on our economy. I’m taking this action to maximize all available federal funds to help people in Hawaii who are unemployed because of COVID-19,” said Gov. David Ige.
The governor noted, however, unlike the Federal Pandemic Unemployment Compensation program that ended in July, LWA is a grant with a finite amount of funding. When FEMA exhausts its grant funding, it will no longer have the resources to provide LWA payments and the program will end. If the federal program does not exhaust the LWA grant funding, payments will end on Dec. 26.
Claimants who are unemployed or partially unemployed due to COVID-19 and are eligible to receive at least $100 per week in unemployment benefits from either Unemployment Insurance (UI), Unemployment Compensation for Federal Employees (UCFE); Unemployment Compensation for Ex-Servicemembers (UCX); Pandemic Emergency Unemployment Compensation (PEUC); Pandemic Unemployment Assistance (PUA); Extended Benefits (EB) and Trade Readjustment Allowances (TRA) are eligible for the additional funds.
“In anticipation of FEMA approval, the DLIR has already begun working to build a new program within the unemployment computer system to implement and pay LWA benefits,” said Department of Labor and Industrial Relations (DLIR) Acting Director Anne Eustaquio. “In conjunction with the U.S. Department of Labor concerning program administration, the state will work diligently to complete this process as quickly as possible.”
