Governor Andy Beshear announced Friday morning that the state’s application to bring in additional federal money to aid unemployed Kentuckians has been accepted.
The governor said Kentucky is the first state in the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s Region 4 to be approved through the agency’s Lost Wages Program to give $400 to unemployment insurance claimants.
Beshear said this program will allow about 80,000 Kentuckians receiving at least $100 a week unemployment benefits for the weeks of July 26-August 15 to receive an additional payment of $400 if they are unemployed or partially unemployed as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. He adds the $400 will apply to all programs: traditional, UI, the Pandemic Unemployment Assistance program, and the extended benefits program.
The governor also noted the federal government originally provided an additional $500 to those facing job loss, which ended without a replacement by the U.S. Congress. Then on August 8, President Donald Trump signed a memorandum seeking to extend some additional benefits to Americans whose jobs have been harmed or eliminated by the global pandemic.
While the application is approved, state officials say benefit recipients should not expect the payments until sometime in early September because re-configuring the computer systems to pay the $400 is likely to take about two weeks.
