Congress starts work on Biden s call for six-month renewal through end of September.
As Congress starts work on President Joe Biden s proposals to extend pandemic unemployment benefits, the acting director of the Oregon Employment Department says straightforward extensions that are on the table will be easier to manage.
But David Gerstenfeld also said he and counterpart agencies in other states would like as much lead time as possible to prepare for any changes and avoid interruptions in benefit payments. States pay benefits but the U.S. Department of Labor oversees them.
The latest extensions, which Congress approved at the end of December, are scheduled to end March 13.
The Pennsylvania Department of Labor & Industry says it's increasing its staff to handle the thousands of emails and phone calls it receives each day about unemployment claims.
âWEâRE ready,â said CNMI Department of Labor Secretary Vicky I. Benavente on Wednesday regarding the second round of unemployment benefits provided by the federal Pandemic Unemployment Assistance program.
Benavente and her team appeared before the Senate Committee on Judiciary, Government, Law and Federal Relations on Feb 3, 2021 to provide updates on the PUA and Federal Pandemic Unemployment Compensation programs.
She said she is hopeful that U.S. DOL will approve CNMI s funding request of $185 million, adding that these funds will benefit roughly 26,000 applicants.
Through the Continued Assistance Act, the second round of PUA will run from Dec. 27, 2020 through March 13, 2021.
Although the first round of PUA has closed, there are still a few applications being adjudicated, she added.