These States Are Offering Trump's Extra Unemployment Benefits

Find out the latest on states offering the additional unemployment benefits through President Trump's Lost Wages Assistance program.

This article was last updated Sept. 10, 2020.

On Aug. 8, President Trump issued an executive order under which the federal government would provide an extra $300 in weekly unemployment benefits to help those affected by the coronavirus pandemic. The original plan was for each state to provide an additional $100 in weekly benefits, for a total of $400.

However, many states balked at that requirement due to budgetary concerns, and state contributions are now optional. States can choose whether they'll participate in this program and accept the additional $300 per week in federal benefits. They can also decide whether they'll offer the extra $100 per week from their own funds.

Here's a full breakdown of how these extra unemployment benefits work and the most recent information on which states offer them.

How the extra unemployment benefits work

The Lost Wages Assistance (LWA) program is being run by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and the Department of Labor, but the benefits themselves are paid out through state unemployment departments. This is how the program works:

• States had until Sept. 10 to apply.
• Benefits are retroactive to Aug. 1 except in states that have elected to make them retroactive to July 26.
• The federal benefit amount is $300 per week, and states have the option of adding another $100 per week from their own funds.
• Claimants will receive these additional benefits along with their normal unemployment payments, so the payment method will be the same. Payment methods depend on the state and what the claimant has set up, but they may be by check, direct deposit to a prepaid debit card, or direct deposit to a bank account.

Claimants who qualify for unemployment benefits under either their state's guidelines or the expanded CARES Act guidelines will remain eligible for these additional benefits as long as both of the following are true:

• They receive at least $100 per week from their normal unemployment benefits.
• They self-certify that they are unemployed due to COVID-19.

FEMA is authorized to fund the program with up to $44 billion from the Disaster Relief Fund or until the balance of that fund reaches $25 billion. As of Sept. 9, it had distributed $30 billion and said that states would be able to provide up to six weeks of enhanced unemployment benefits.

Considering the short funding timeframe, LWA seems to be more of a stopgap than a long-term solution.

Which states are participating?

All states except for South Dakota applied for the LWA program. Here's a full list of the states/districts that have either been approved or are awaiting approval:

• Alabama
• Alaska
• Arizona
• Arkansas
• California
• Colorado
• Connecticut
• Delaware
• Florida
• Georgia
• Hawaii
• Idaho
• Illinois
• Indiana
• Iowa
• Kansas
• Kentucky*
• Louisiana
• Maine
• Maryland
• Massachusetts
• Michigan
• Minnesota
• Mississippi
• Missouri
• Montana*
• Nebraska
• Nevada
• New Hampshire*
• New Jersey
• New Mexico
• New York
• North Carolina
• North Dakota
• Ohio
• Oklahoma
• Oregon
• Pennsylvania
• Rhode Island
• South Carolina
• Tennessee
• Texas
• Utah
• Vermont*
• Virginia
• Washington
• Washington, D.C.
• West Virginia*
• Wisconsin
• Wyoming

*This state has confirmed it will contribute the additional $100, meaning claimants will receive the full $400 in additional unemployment benefits.

Here are more details on the status of each state's extra unemployment benefits, including all available information on payment amounts and start dates.

Alabama

Alabama's application was approved on Aug. 21. The state began paying an additional $300 on Sept. 3.

Alaska

Alaska's application was approved on Aug. 23. Payments of an additional $300 are expected to begin in about six weeks from the approval date.

Arizona

Arizona's application was approved on Aug. 15 and it became the first state to send out these additional unemployment benefits on Aug. 17. The additional benefit amount is $300.

Arkansas

Arkansas's application was approved on Aug. 25. There is currently no information about when payments begin. The additional benefit amount is $300.

California

California's application was approved on Aug. 22. The state began paying an additional $300 on Sept. 7.

Colorado

Colorado's application was approved on Aug. 16. Payments of an additional $300 are expected to begin in mid-to-late September.

Connecticut

Connecticut's application was approved on Aug. 24. Payments of an additional $300 are expected to begin in mid-September.

Delaware

Delaware's application was approved on Sept. 2. Payments of an additional $300 are expected to begin the week of Sept. 14.

Florida

Florida's application was approved on Aug. 29. Payments of an additional $300 began on Sept. 8.

Georgia

Georgia's application was approved on Aug. 23. Payments of an additional $300 are expected to begin the week of Sept. 14.

Hawaii

Hawaii's application was approved on Aug. 29. There is currently no information available on when payments will begin. The additional benefit amount is $300.

Idaho

Idaho's application was approved on Aug. 19. Payments of an additional $300 began the first week of September.

Illinois

Illinois's application was approved on Sept. 1. There is currently no information available on when payments will begin. The additional benefit amount is $300.

Indiana

Indiana's application was approved on Aug. 21. Payments of an additional $300 are expected to begin on Sept. 21.

Iowa

Iowa's application was approved on Aug. 15. Payments of an additional $300 began on Sept. 4.

Kansas

Kansas's application was approved on Sept. 7. The Kansas Department of Labor has announced that payments of an additional $300 will begin no sooner than late September.

Kentucky

Kentucky's application was approved on Aug. 21. The state will contribute the additional $100 to bring the weekly benefit amount to $400. The governor's office announced on Aug. 21 that payments were expected in early September, and there have been no updates on the payment timeline since then.

Louisiana

Louisiana's application was approved on Aug. 15. Payments of an additional $300 began on Aug. 26.

Maine

Maine's application was approved on Aug. 25. Payments of an additional $300 are expected to begin in about three weeks from the approval date.

Maryland

Maryland's application was approved on Aug. 19. Payments of an additional $300 are expected to begin on Sept. 11.

Massachusetts

Massachusetts' application was approved on Aug. 21. Payments of an additional $300 began on Sept. 2.

Michigan

Michigan's application was approved on Aug. 21. On Sept. 10, the Michigan Unemployment Insurance Agency announced that payments of an additional $300 would begin in the next week to 10 days.

Minnesota

Minnesota's application was approved on Aug. 29. Payments of an additional $300 began on Sept. 4.

Mississippi

Mississippi's application was approved on Aug. 21. Payments of an additional $300 are expected to begin by Sept. 12.

Missouri

Missouri's application was approved on Aug. 16. Payments of an additional $300 began on Aug. 29.

Montana

Montana's application was approved on Aug. 18. Payments of an additional $400 began on Aug. 26.

Nebraska

Nebraska's application was approved on Sept. 9. There is currently no information available on when payments will begin. The additional benefit amount is $300.

Nevada

Nevada has applied for the LWA program and is awaiting approval. The Nevada Department of Employment, Training and Rehabilitation expects it to take at least four to six weeks after approval for payments to begin. The additional payment amount is $300.

New Hampshire

New Hampshire's application was approved on Aug. 24. Payments of an additional $400 are expected to begin within five weeks of the approval date.

New Jersey

New Jersey's application was approved on Sept. 4. Payments of an additional $300 are expected to begin in October.

New Mexico

New Mexico's application was approved on Aug. 15. The New Mexico Department of Workforce Solutions announced that payments of an additional $300 would begin in the second week of September, and there have been no updates on the payment timeline since then.

New York

New York's application was approved on Aug. 23. There is currently no information on when payments will begin. The state has announced that it will not contribute the additional $100.

North Carolina

North Carolina's application was approved on Aug. 21. Payments of an additional $300 began on Sept. 3.

North Dakota

North Dakota's application was approved on Aug. 31. Payments of an additional $300 are expected to begin in mid-September.

Ohio

Ohio's application was approved on Aug. 26. Payments of an additional $300 are expected to begin in mid-September.

Oklahoma

Oklahoma's application was approved on Aug. 18. Payments of an additional $300 are expected to begin within four-to-five weeks of the approval date.

Oregon

Oregon's application was approved on Aug. 28. The Oregon Employment Department hopes to begin payments of an additional $300 in late September, but that's only a rough estimate.

Pennsylvania

Pennsylvania's application was approved on Aug. 24. Payments of an additional $300 began on Sept. 10.

Rhode Island

Rhode Island's application was approved on Aug. 22. Payments of an additional $300 are expected to begin by Sept. 12.

South Carolina

South Carolina's application was approved on Sept. 1. Payments of an additional $300 are expected to begin after the South Carolina Department of Employment and Workforce can set up the new program in its benefits portal, which is expected to take two to three weeks.

Tennessee

Tennessee's application was approved on Aug. 22. Payments of an additional $300 began on Aug. 26.

Texas

Texas' application was approved on Aug. 21. Payments of an additional $300 began in the last week of August.

Utah

Utah's application was approved on Aug. 16. Payments of an additional $300 began on Sept. 9.

Vermont

Vermont's application was approved on Aug. 22. On Aug. 25, the Vermont Department of Labor announced that payments of an additional $400 would begin in the coming weeks.

Virginia

Virginia's application was approved on Aug. 26. Payments of an additional $300 are expected to begin on Sept. 30.

Washington

Washington's application was approved on Aug. 24. Payments of an additional $300 are expected to begin on Sept. 21.

Washington, D.C.

Washington, D.C.'s application was approved on Sept. 8. Payments of an additional $300 are expected to begin in the first week of October.

West Virginia

West Virginia's application was approved on Aug. 27. Payments of an additional $400 are expected to begin the week of Sept. 14.

Wisconsin

Wisconsin's application was approved on Sept. 1. Payments of an additional $300 are expected to begin by the end of October.

Wyoming

Wyoming's application was approved on Aug. 28. There is currently no information available on when payments will begin. The additional benefit amount is $300.