State set to issue jobless benefits

It awaits details from U.S. agency

As many as 40,000 Arkansans should start receiving an additional $300 in weekly unemployment benefits next month as part of the federal pandemic relief package that became law Sunday.

State officials already have systems in place to issue checks and are awaiting details from the U.S. Department of Labor to begin making the payments, Arkansas Commerce Secretary Mike Preston said Monday.

“We already have the systems built and in place,” Preston said, noting that the state is waiting on the Labor Department to provide updates on retroactive payments and the actual start date for the program. “The systems are ready, and it should be fairly easy to implement.”

Arkansas officials were scheduled to join other states on a call with Labor Department advisers on Monday afternoon to discuss the program, Preston said. He said he expects final rules to be issued next week.

On Sunday, President Donald Trump signed legislation that extends unemployment benefits through the end of March for jobless Americans, including independent contractors and the self-employed. Payments are

set at $300 per week in addition to any state benefits that jobless workers receive.

“Once we get the final guidance from Labor, it should be just a matter of days in turning this around and beginning to make payments,” Preston said.

Payments should be disbursed before the end of January. Preston estimated about 35,000 to 40,000 Arkansans will be eligible for the supplemental payments.

There are no details yet on what jobless workers may have to do to enroll in the program — that information also will be provided by the Labor Department, according to Preston.

Congress approved the legislation to extend the unemployment payments, which were scheduled to expire before the end of the year.

This year, Arkansas paid out $2.8 billion in unemployment benefits — including state contributions and supplemental payments backed by the federal government — through the end of November. In 2019, total unemployment insurance benefits for the first 11 months of the year were $54 million.

Statewide, unemployment has increased substantially over 2019 because of business closures and interruptions caused by the coronavirus. Arkansas’ unemployment rate spiked to 10.2% in April — the highest in 35 years — and has remained above 2019 levels for the entire year. Joblessness in November was 6.2%, compared with 3.6% a year before.

The new $300 supplemental unemployment benefits are part of a $900 billion pandemic relief package. The original coronavirus stimulus package approved by Congress in March provided weekly benefits of $600 for jobless workers.