Unemployment benefits may continue beyond September 6 at the States’ behest
By Ishika Dangayach, 6:15 PM ET
States can extend unemployment benefits through the Sept. 6deadline by using pandemic funds previously granted to state and localgovernments by Congress, Labor, and Treasury Department officials said on Thursday.
Though President Joe Biden extended $300 weekly unemploymentbenefits through September 6 as part of his American Rescue Plan will not beany further, Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen and Labor Secretary Marty Walshannounced on Thursday.
The temporary $300 boost in benefits will expire onSeptember 6th, as planned, Yellen and Walsh wrote in a letter to SenateCommittee on Finance Chairman Wyden and Committee on Ways and Means ChairmanNeal. As President Biden has said, the boost was always intended to betemporary and it is appropriate for that benefit boost to expire.
Officials cautioned that even the economy is recovering fromthe pandemic and payrolls are added to the job market but unemployedindividuals still require financial help as the Delta variant may also poseshort-term challenges to local economies and labor markets.
“The American Rescue Plan allocated $350 billion to stateand local governments to support communities’ continuing response to thepandemic, address its economic impacts…..funds can be activated to cover thecost of providing assistance to unemployed workers beyond September 6th,”Yellen and Walsh wrote.
- The Treasury Department and Department of Labor are takingthe following steps to assist the unemployed:
- 1. The Treasury Department is re-affirming that states can use their allocations of the $350 billion in American Rescue Plan State and Local Fiscal Relief Funds to provide additional weeks of income support to unemployed workers whose benefits expire on September 6th.
- 2. The Department of Labor will communicate to states about how they can use their existing UI infrastructure to support state-funded benefits. States can choose to seamlessly provide support while complying with existing federal law and regulations, the department says.
- 3. The Department of Labor is announcing an additional $47 million in CAREER grants to support reemployment services for all Americans. These grants are on top of the $43 million in grant funds for reemployment service announced earlier this year.
It is unknown if states will willingly utilize any remainingfunds to extend programs.
The pair emphasized the significance of long-term reform ofthe United States' unemployment insurance system. They also stated that theBiden administration is requesting that Congress address the problem as part ofthe reconciliation process that Democrats want to utilize to approve a $3.5 trillion spending bill this year.
With inputs from CNBC
