The unemployment benefit for millions of Americans who are out of work is going to be $300 in most states and not $400. However, experts warn that it won't arrive for weeks.
Unemployment benefits
Americans may get only three weeks worth of payments, according to the Federal Emergency Management Agency, which will run the relief program through its Disaster Relief Fund, following an executive action from President Donald Trump this August.
After coronavirus aid talks hit a rough road in Congress, President Trump called for a $300-per-week federally-funded jobless benefit for workers who are unemployed, with states asked to provide another $100 a week.
However, there are issues with Trump's memorandum. FEMA usually funds emergency responses to natural disasters, and states can't normally pay unemployment insurance that is not authorized by Congress.
States will have to reconfigure their systems in order to distribute the funds, which may result in long delays, according to a senior fellow at The Century Foundation, Andrew Stettner.
How much will it be?
President Trump signed an executive action on August 8, calling for $400 in weekly unemployment benefits to replace the $600 federal supplement that expired in July. But unlike the $600, states would be asked to pay a quarter of the $400, or $100.
However, governors complained that it would be difficult to find the extra money during the recession, which has hit their budgets hard.
The Trump administration later changed their statement and said that workers would only get $300 per week. In this way, a state would not have to put in additional funds if it already pays a worker $100 a week in benefits.
The Department of Labor has since given guidance that regular state unemployment will qualify as their 25% contribution, but the benefits are contingent on states applying for the aid.
That leaves the states with two options, count existing benefits as a match or kick in an additional $100. But so far, not many states have chosen the latter.
Will any states choose to pay $400?
The answer is yes. Unemployed Americans in Kentucky and Montana are poised to become the first ones to receive the promised $400. FEMA's grant funding will allow Kentucky and Montana to give funds to unemployed due to the pandemic.
The estimate will be $400 per week, that is $100 in state funds and $300 in federal funds, on top of their regular unemployment benefit.
Earlier this week, Kentucky had signalled that it had been considering whether to use some of its federal coronavirus relief money from the CARES Act, which will add $100 to the $300 benefit provided by FEMA.
States have the option to pay for their part of the benefits by using the money provided to them under the relief package that was passed this year, according to President Trump's executive action.
So who is eligible for this benefit? Unemployed workers who receive less than $100 instate benefits won't receive the extra $300 because their weekly benefit would fall short of triggering the state match to get the federal funds.
More than three dozen states have minimum unemployment benefits below $100, according to the Labor Department.
States have to apply for a FEMA grant to get the $300 from the federal government. There are now 13 states that have been approved for the funding, and they are Kentucky, Arizona, Iowa, Colorado, Missouri, Louisiana, Michigan, Montana, Utah, New Mexico, Maryland, Idaho and Oklahoma.
