FEMA agrees to fund extra $300 a week in Maryland unemployment benefits
Some unemployed Marylanders could begin receiving an extra $300 a week in benefits starting in late September now that the state has received approval for at least $431 million in federal funds, Gov. Larry Hogan announced Thursday.
Maryland was approved for an initial three-week period, and can reapply if the $44 billion in funding for the Lost Wages Assistance program has not been exhausted.
The weekly supplement will be retroactive to the week ending Aug. 1, and the state anticipates to begin payments in late September.
The extra $300 a week is half of what those left jobless by the coronavirus pandemic had been receiving under a previous aid package before it expired at the end of July. Without the extra federal assistance, Marylanders’ unemployment benefits are generally about half their gross weekly pay, up to a maximum of $430.
