Gov. Larry Hogan announced Thursday that FEMA has approved the state’s application for an additional $300 per week in federal unemployment benefits for Maryland residents. The Department of Labor submitted an application for the benefits, which fall under the Lost Wages Assistance program, on Wednesday.
This grant will benefit the thousands of Marylanders and Montgomery County residents who have filed unemployment claims. Since March 9, the Maryland Department of Labor has “paid a total of $5,993,589,284 in regular and CARES Act unemployment insurance benefits to claimants,” according to a state news release. The Lost Wages Assistance program now secures Maryland with a minimum of $431 million in additional unemployment benefits.
“Our @MD_Labor team will now work with the federal administration to implement this new program so that we can distribute these benefits,” Hogan tweeted.
It is important to recognize that this is only a stopgap, and we continue to urge Congress to come together and approve federal aid for the states to help support our economic recovery.
— Governor Larry Hogan (@GovLarryHogan) August 20, 2020
According to the state news release, the Department of Labor is developing a plan to “begin distributing the additional benefits by late September.”
The state says, “Eligible claimants will receive the $300 per week in benefits retroactive to the week ending August 1, 2020 and ending no later than December 26, 2020. To qualify for the additional $300 per week, claimants must be eligible for a weekly benefit amount of at least $100 and must self-certify that they are unemployed or partially unemployed due to disruptions caused by COVID-19.”
