When the U.S. House of Representatives approved the $1.9 trillion rescue package, it meant the extension of billions of dollars in aid to people who’ve lost work since the pandemic crippled the economy and caused countless businesses to scale back or close altogether.
The extension of federal programs was welcome news at the Oregon Employment Department.
“We’re very pleased to see the federal benefit extensions moving through Congress,” OED acting director David Gerstenfeld said Wednesday. “We hope to see it signed by the president to minimize any delays for people receiving [Pandemic Unemployment Assistance] or [Pandemic Employment Unemployment Compensation] benefits.”
Notice that Gerstenfeld said “minimize” — not avoid — delays. Gerstenfeld has already acknowledged the inevitability of delays but he was reluctant Wednesday to estimate how long those might last, or how many people might be affected. He said those numbers depended on two things: when President Biden signs the bill into law, and how quickly the U.S. Department of Labor issues implementation guidance to states.
However, Gerstenfeld was able to share the state Employment Department’s plan for implementing changes, based on a general principle:
“We know that every dollar of benefits a person is eligible for, we want to get to them as quickly as possible,” he said. “But we’re really prioritizing getting the most people the most assistance as quickly as we can.”
As a result, OED has put implementation of the $300 weekly added benefit, known as Federal Pandemic Unemployment Compensation, or FPUC, at the top of the list. After that is Pandemic Unemployment Assistance, or PUA, which covers people who don’t typically qualify for jobless benefits, such as the self-employed, as well as those who can’t work because they’ve been affected directly by COVID-19. Next is the benefits extension program known as PEUC, or Pandemic Employment Unemployment Compensation.
Gerstenfeld was reluctant to give firm numbers on how many people benefiting from the programs were likely to see a gap in benefits. He estimated that 133,000 people receiving PUA and PEUC benefits would be at risk of seeing those payments interrupted, but he said it could be more than that.
“Depending on how quickly we can get the programs implemented, there will be additional people that are running out of regular benefits, that would be going on to one of those programs, but that’s hopefully a very worst case scenario,” he said.
One more program that Gerstenfeld listed as a lower priority is a benefit program that has been waiting on OED’s implementation list since December: Mixed Earner Unemployment Compensation, or MEUC. Department officials said that program would pay a $100 weekly benefit to about 6,000 Oregonians who have earnings as an employee and from being self-employed.
Gerstenfeld suggested that MEUC was not as critical to get up and running quickly as the other three priorities, because the mixed earners should already benefit from other programs.
“Anybody who is eligible for MEUC is already receiving their base underlying benefits, and the FPUC benefits,” he said.