IDES Application for FEMA Lost Wages
Act Funds Approved and Received, Payments Being Distributed
Federal Funds for Program Expected to Max
Out for All States After Six Weeks
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[October 26, 2020]
Illinois has applied, been approved for, and
received $1.3 billion in funds from the Federal Emergency Management
Agency (FEMA) for the six weeks of the new federal Lost Wages
Assistance (LWA) program, the Illinois Department of Employment
Security (IDES) announced today.
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Under the new federal program, certain individuals
unemployed as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic may be eligible to
receive an additional $300 per week to their weekly benefit amount (WBA).
While LWA was initially promoted by the federal government as
possibly being available until December 27, 2020, FEMA has announced
that funds are no longer available after its sixth week.
IDES has paid out more than $650 million in payments to nearly
700,000 eligible claimants. Payments began disbursement on September
6 for the weeks between July 26 – August 15 and will continue to be
paid out for the weeks between August 16 – September 5. Funds for
this new program are only made available through a diversion of FEMA
disaster relief funding, a highly unusual method of supplementing
state unemployment systems.
![](http://archives.lincolndailynews.com/2020/Sep/24/images/ads/current/chuckglass_sdadaily_HG_2020.png)
“As we continue to pay out LWA funds as quickly as possible to
eligible claimants who desperately need them, IDES and the Pritzker
administration are extremely concerned about the consequences that
will arise as a result of the brevity of this program,” said Acting
Director Kristin Richards. “Perhaps most concerning is the nearly
60,000 claimants who are, by design, excluded from this federal
program, cutting off the most vulnerable from this supplemental
funding to meet basic needs.”
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![](http://archives.lincolndailynews.com/2020/Sep/24/images/ads/current/ccaonline_lda050208.png)
LWA is a completely separate federal program from
that of the previous unemployment supplemental Federal Pandemic
Unemployment Compensation (FPUC) program, which provided an
additional $600 each week in 100 percent federally funded benefits
to any claimant receiving unemployment benefits. Most concerning,
eligibility requirements for LWA leave behind the most vulnerable
Illinoisans. Unlike the FPUC program, in which claimants earning a
minimum of a $1 WBA were entitled to the additional $600, LWA
requirements allow only those claimants earning a minimum $100 WBA
to receive the additional $300 to their benefit payments. This
excludes approximately 60,000 claimants from receiving additional
unemployment funds.
Additionally, the federal government’s goal of bolstering economic
activity through this program falls off a cliff after only six
weeks. While FPUC funds provided individuals the ability to meet and
pay for basic necessities for months, which meant continued economic
activity, LWA cuts those funds in half, providing only $300 per week
to far fewer people for a much smaller amount of time. The decrease
in eligibility and benefits is expected to decrease economic
activity by 20 percent.
[Illinois Office of Communication and
Information] |