WCBC

July 31st, 2020 by WCBC Radio

Maryland labor officials announced Friday that Maryland has started offering an additional 13 weeks of unemployment insurance benefits through the Federal-State Extended Benefits program. The program is available for claimants who have exhausted both their 26 weeks of regular unemployment benefits and the Pandemic Emergency Unemployment Compensation assistance.

Maryland Department of Labor officials will issue written notification to all potentially eligible claimants. They can then apply for extended benefits in their online portal. Maryland can offer the program because it met federal requirements that the state's insured unemployment rate exceeds 5% and be at least 120% of the corresponding average rate in the prior two years.

The federal supplement of $600 per week on top of state unemployment checks is set to expire Friday. Congress has yet to pass additional funding for the supplemental checks or other coronavirus relief programs