FRANKFORT, Ky. (AP) — Kentucky has applied for another round of supplemental unemployment payments for tens of thousands of people who lost work during the COVID-19 outbreak, Gov. Andy Beshear said Monday.
The Democratic governor said his administration is seeking federal approval to distribute the extra $400 in weekly jobless benefits for an additional three weeks.
If the request wins approval, he said, qualified Kentuckians would receive the additional benefits for the weeks of Aug. 22, Aug. 29 and Sept. 5 as the economy struggles to recover from the pandemic.
“We want to do that to help our people get through it,” Beshear told reporters. “And we’ve also seen that these dollars cycle through our economy. ... It’s truly helping to make sure that this recession can hopefully be short term and that we can really bounce back.”
The supplemental payments for Kentucky were approved initially for the three weeks prior to Aug. 22. More than 100,000 Kentuckians qualified for those extra payments, the governor’s office said Monday.
Under the program authorized by President Donald Trump, no extra state money is required for the first $300 in extra weekly assistance for each recipient. To get the full $400 available for the unemployed, Kentucky dips into its federal coronavirus relief aid to make up the difference.
Kentucky remains in “a place that we can do it” financially, Beshear said Monday. Beshear has said he opted for the full amount because that extra $100 is “critically important” for recipients.
Recipients still receive their regular state unemployment benefits.
Kentucky won swift federal approval after its initial request in August for the extra jobless aid.
The unemployed had received $600 a week in federal pandemic aid until the assistance expired Aug 1. Congress has been unable to agree on an extension amid an impasse on a new round of coronavirus relief.
