Minnesotans receiving unemployment benefits will be able to apply for an additional $300 per week, Gov. Tim Walz announced Saturday.
The state has received approval from the Federal Emergency Management Agency for the Lost Wages Assistance program.
From the start of the coronavirus pandemic through July, more than 400,000 laid-off Minnesota workers were receiving an extra $600 a week with their state unemployment checks. That money came from the COVID-19 relief package that Congress passed in March. That program expired last month.
When Congress didn’t extend the early program, President Donald Trump issued an executive order to provide a weekly unemployment bump, funded with $44 billion that he planned to transfer from FEMA. The agency would pay $300 if the states paid $100.
“I am glad that Minnesotans receiving unemployment benefits will receive an additional $300 a week to help make ends meet during this crisis,” Gov. Walz said. “We will continue to use every resource at our disposal to help Minnesotans through this pandemic.”
To be eligible, an applicant must have a weekly unemployment benefit amount of at least $100 and must be unemployed due to COVID-19.
Those currently receiving unemployment benefits do not need to reapply or do anything other than complete their weekly benefits request to receive the additional $300 a week. DEED Unemployment Insurance will review all payment requests made for the week of July 26 going forward and automatically pay applicants who are eligible.
Minnesota has paid a total of roughly $7 billion in unemployment insurance since the pandemic began, some of which it had to borrow after depleting the state unemployment trust fund.
“With our application approved, we’ll move quickly to get Minnesotans this assistance,” said Department of Employment and Economic Development Commissioner Steve Grove. “We know how important these benefits are to so many workers who are unemployed due to the pandemic.”
DEED anticipates the program will last between five to eight weeks. Applicants can visit www.uimn.org/lwa for more information.