WorkForce West Virginia applies to program for additional unemployment benefits

“I think they were one of the first states to apply. Now it’s just waiting for the guidance,” he said.

President Donald Trump recently signed an executive order calling for unemployment benefit recipients to receive an additional $400 per week, following the expiration of the additional $600 in assistance provided by the federal CARES Act.

FEMA disaster relief funds will cover $300 of the new weekly payment, and the other $100 will come from a portion of the $678 million set aside for WorkForce West Virginia in Gov. Jim Justice’s CARES Act spending plan.

Acting WorkForce West Virginia Commissioner Scott Adkins recently said funding the new benefits will cost the state between $10 million and $12 million per week, based on the state’s current unemployment levels.

While officials had previously said the state’s share of providing the additional benefits would cost the state around $26 million per week, that figure was based on a “worst case scenario,” Adkins said.

The duration of the payments will depend on the terms of the president’s executive order memorandum, according to a press release from WorkForce.

“The payment could end in a matter of weeks if FEMA funding is exhausted or the federal government enacts a new law, similar to the recently expired Federal Pandemic Unemployment Compensation program, to supplant the Lost Wages Assistance payment,” the release reads. “It will end no later than December 27, 2020.”

In order to qualify for the additional $400, claimants must currently be receiving at least $100 in weekly unemployment benefits from the state, according to Malinoski.

“To qualify for the FEMA benefits, eligible individuals must have a weekly benefit amount of $100 or more,” he said. “That’s a FEMA stipulation.”

Current unemployment benefit recipients who receive at least $100 do not need to do anything to receive the new benefits when they become available, other than continue to file their weekly certifications, according to Adkins.

Although some states have chosen not to pursue providing the additional benefits, Justice applauded Trump’s executive order and said the funds would provide an important source of income for those impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic.

“From our standpoint, the question whether or not West Virginia will be able to pay that, whether or not West Virginia will willingly pay that, I would tell you, hands down, period, period, we’re going to pay it,” Justice said. “West Virginia is going to pay it, from the standpoint that we cannot let our people who are sitting out there with no job wondering what in the world they are going to do, sit out there and wilt on the vine.”

West Virginia’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate decreased to 9.9% in July, according to information released Tuesday by WorkForce West Virginia.

Unemployment rates decreased in 49 counties, increased in 5 counties, and remained unchanged in one county.

Counties reporting an unemployment rate at 16% or greater included McDowell (16%) and Mingo (18.2%).

Counties reporting an unemployment rate less than 7% included Hampshire (6.3%), Doddridge (6.3%) and Pendleton (5.3%).

The state’s unemployment rate is down from a high of 15.8% in April during the early days of the coronavirus pandemic.