$300 FEMA unemployment benefits: 7 states approved to offer extra assistance

Earlier this month, President Trump signed an executive order that would see some eligible unemployed workers receive up to an extra $400 in weekly unemployment benefits. The executive order was signed in an attempt to get funds to unemployed workers while Congress hashes out an extension of the earlier $600-per-week unemployment benefit that ended in July.

Under Trump’s executive order, unemployed workers could receive up to $400 per week in benefits, provided that the state they live in contribute $100 of those weekly benefits. If so, those states can apply to FEMA to get a subsidy to pay out the other $300 in weekly benefits. The program is officially known as the FEMA Lost Wages Supplemental Payment Assistance.

Now, seven states have been confirmed to have applied and been approved for the FEMA program, meaning those states’ unemployed workers could soon see up to $400 per week in unemployment benefits being paid to them. The states that have applied to the FEMA program and been accepted are Arizona, Colorado, Iowa, Louisiana, Missouri, New Mexico, and Utah.

However, it remains unclear when those seven states will start paying the benefits to the unemployed. CNBC says it could be as early as this week. However, the rollout could be slower in some states. Yet some good news: The payments will be retroactive to August 1, 2020.

It’s unknown if other states have applied for the FEMA program yet. Only one state, South Dakota, has gone on record saying it will not apply for the program. As CNBC points out, many states have said cost, legal, and administrative concerns persist about the program, which could mean they are not likely to apply for the federal subsidies.