Official Newspaper of Eddy County since 1883
FEMA Administrator Pete Gaynor approved North Dakota for a FEMA grant under the Lost Wages Assistance program. FEMA’s grant funding will allow North Dakota to provide $300 per week – on top of their regular unemployment benefit – to those unemployed due to COVID-19. FEMA will work with North Dakota Governor Doug Burgum to implement a system to make this funding available to North Dakota residents.
On Aug. 8, 2020, President Trump made available up to $44 billion from FEMA’s Disaster Relief Fund to provide financial assistance to Americans who have lost wages due to the COVID-19 pandemic. On Aug. 31, 2020 the state of North Dakota agreed to administer a lost wages program for its citizens who are unemployed due to COVID-19.
FEMA looks forward to working with the governors of additional states who agree to administer a lost wages program to bring financial relief to unemployed Americans.
Guidelines
To ease the economic burden for those struggling with lost wages due to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, President Donald J. Trump authorized FEMA to expend up to $44 billion from the Disaster Relief Fund for lost wage payments.FEMA will provide grants to participating states, territories, and the District of Columbia (hereinafter “states”) to administer delivery of lost wages assistance for which they will receive an additional amount up to 5% of the total grant award to cover their administrative costs, subject to the cost-share.
The President's authorization for FEMA to use the Disaster Relief Fund (DRF) to supplement the payment of lost wages as a result of COVID-19 is in addition to the $8.8 billion FEMA has already obligated to date in the fight against COVID-19.
Process Overview
A state may request assistance by submitting an application for a grant award to administer the supplemental payments for lost wages.
FEMA has provided states with complete instructions, required forms, and recommended templates to support the application process. These materials are currently available on FEMA.gov and Grants.gov.
Upon approval, FEMA will obligate funds to the state, which will administer the lost wages payments in conjunction with its respective unemployment office. States may provide supplemental lost wages payments to eligible individuals retroactively, beginning with the week of unemployment ending August 1, 2020.
Eligibility
A state may provide supplemental lost wages payments from the week of unemployment ending August 1, 2020, to individuals (“claimants”) currently eligible for at least $100 per week in unemployment insurance compensation from any of the following:
• Unemployment compensation, including regular State Unemployment Compensation, Unemployment Compensation for Federal Employees (UCFE) and Unemployment Compensation for Ex-Service members (UCX)
• Pandemic Emergency Unemployment Compensation (PEUC)
• Pandemic Unemployment Assistance (PUA)
Extended Benefits (EB)
• Short-Time Compensation (STC)
• Trade Readjustment Allowance (TRA)
• Payments under the Self-Employment Assistance (SEA) program
Claimants will be required to self-certify that they are unemployed or partially unemployed due to disruptions caused by the pandemic as part of the initial unemployment insurance claims process and or required weekly recertifications.