CONNECTICUT, USA — FEMA has approved Connecticut's application for Lost Wages grant. The agency made its announcement Monday evening.
Governor Ned Lamont said on August 21, the state had submitted the application in an effort to protect CT workers whose jobs have been impacted by COVID-19. The grant will provide a $300 weekly wage supplement to existing unemployment benefits in response to the economic crisis caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. President Trump allowed FEMA to use up to $44 billion in Stafford Act disaster relief funds to help workers who have lost their income due to the virus.
The program will require the state to establish an entirely new process for claimants to access the FEMA funding. New, existing state and extended benefits claimants must self-certify that they are eligible under the federal guidelines. Claimants who have already applied for the Pandemic Unemployment Assistance (PUA) have been already self-certified. The new benefit will be retroactive to the claim week beginning July 26, 2020, and will also be available for claim weeks starting on August 2, 2020, and August 9, 2020.
Eligible people must self-certify that they are unemployed or partially unemployed due to the impact of COVID-19. Eligibility includes:
- Recipients of at least $100 per week of any of the following benefits for the week they are seeking unemployment benefits
- Claimants receiving unemployment compensation including state and federal workers and former service members as well as those receiving Pandemic Unemployment Assistance, Extended Benefits, or High Extended Benefits
- Anyone who qualified for Federal Pandemic Unemployment Compensation
- Claimants receiving Short-Time Compensation
- Workers with a Trade Readjustment Allowance
The Department of Labor will disburse the money to the claimants. The DOL expects disbursement in mid-September and anticipates about 25,000 people who will be eligible for federal aid.
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To learn more about FEMA’s lost wages supplemental payment assistance, click here.
