Unemployment benefits California: who is eligible and how much for new extension?
Since the weekly payment of $600 in unemployment benefits ended on 31 July, many Californians have been waiting for an extension to be approved.
Good news for millions of Californians because starting 7 September they will get an extra $300 per week in unemployment benefits. This comes after the federal government approved California’s application for an extension after the higher $600 weekly payment, from the CARES Act, ended on 31 July. The bad news is that the boost in these benefits will only last for three weeks.
State’s application for $4.5 billion in aid from FEMA
The aid is part of an executive order signed by President Donald Trump earlier this month after Congress failed to come to an agreement for the fifth stimulus relief package, one that should have included an extension to unemployment benefits amid the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.
The initial new benefit payments can be backdated to 1 August and, according to Ernie Tedeschi, a former economist in the Obama administration who was speaking to Business Insider, the $300 would provide about a 85 percent wage replacement for the average worker.
FEMA’s program has a total of $44 billion for all 50 states in the US and so far 35 of those states have been approved for the extra funding. According to the New York Times 29 states will begin giving the weekly boost in mid-September with the remaining six states already having started providing the money to their people.