[Updated for $300 FPUC payment in 2021] – The updates below are related to the original $300 LWA program which has now been paid out. See this article for the new $300 FPUC payment and state tracker, approved under the 2021 extensions.
Despite payment of the $300 LWA weekly benefit across several states, many eligible claimants are still finding that they have yet to receive their funds or that they only received partial payments. This is despite funding for the Lost Wages Assistance (LWA) program having already run out and capped at 6 weeks for most states, well before the end of the original December expiry. Another point of frustration (and confusion) is that people in the same state are getting paid on different schedules based on the program they are currently receiving unemployment benefits under. Further it has been a challenge to get clear answers from their local state unemployment agencies and websites which were already swamped trying to make the payments under existing enhanced unemployment benefit programs (PUA, PEUC, EB)! So hopefully the information below will help answer some of your LWA queries on why your payments have stopped, delayed or not coming at all. Feel free to leave or review comments for any further questions.
FEMA has confirmed that they have budgeted 6 weeks of funding ($1800 to $2400) for states that apply to all weeks of the program. Based on the tracker below, states that have already exhausted their funding were among the first to receive approvals from FEMA. Those states include: Arizona, Massachusetts, Missouri, Montana, New Hampshire, North Carolina, Texas, Iowa, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Pennsylvania and New Mexico.
Note some states like Florida have said they will only be paying 4 weeks of benefits (despite FEMA budget for 6 weeks) due to one of the program’s requirements which requires that at least a quarter of the program’s recipients receive an additional $100 in state jobless aid. Because Florida doesn’t have enough workers who earn at least $100 in state unemployment aid to qualify the FL DEO has said they won’t be applying for the remaining 2 weeks of LWA funding available.
The LWA unemployment benefit requires claimants to be getting at least $100 of UI benefits (on a pre-tax basis) from existing state or federal unemployment programs. This minimum requirement is required for every single week the LWA program is in effect, which covers the weeks ending August 1st to September 5th. You will only get the extra $300 (or $400 in some select states) for the weeks you have certified and received over $100 in UI for existing programs.
States are requiring claimants to self-certify that they are eligible for the $300 extra payment because they were unemployed or partially unemployed due to disruptions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. So make sure you complete this once you get notified by your state unemployment agency (or check your UI portal). If you are getting PUA unemployment, then this certification is already covered since that program required this certification in the first place.
Note – You will just need to certify once per LWA claim. There is no requirement for weekly LWA self-certifications. You should however continue to file your regular weekly claim certifications to receive your unemployment benefits along with any applicable LWA payments. You will need to call your state UI if you need to adjust your certification for past weeks (required to get LWA retroactive payments) if this cannot be done through your states UI portal.
All state UI agencies had to implement PUA (and PEUC) programs earlier this year as part of the CARES act stimulus bill, which was generally done via separate systems or applications relative to their traditional UI systems already in place. In an unintended twist, the use of different systems has also meant that the LWA payment schedule for PUA recipients could also be different to those on regular unemployment because PUA claimants were not on traditional UI systems. In fact in many states, because the PUA systems were designed more recently LWA was able to be provided to PUA claimants more quickly than legacy systems used to deliver traditional unemployment benefits. For example in Ohio, PUA claimants began receiving retroactive LWA payments the week of September 16, 2020. Those on regular UI won’t start getting payments till late September.
Because FEMA only initially awarded three weeks of funding – covering the weeks of August 1st, 8th and August 15th – many states only paid those first payments (one at a time or in a $900 lump sum) in the first round of LWA disbursements. Subsequent weeks required FEMA approval so were paid based on that and when states got the funds. Given the last week of funding for this program in many states was the week ending September 5th (paid the following week), some states who started paying early (e.g Texas, Arizona and Maryland) have already made the full $1800 payment to some claimants.
As a reminder here are the weeks (week ending) for states which have received the full 6 weeks of FEMA funding
While the state tracker below shows the first payment date for LWA benefits, it may take several days to get these in your bank account or debit card. Like with traditional UI and PUA benefits, after a payment has been released, it typically appears in your bank account or on your debit card in 1-2 business days. If you find its been more than 5 days, then contact your local state UI office.
This recently happened in New York (see update below table) where NY DOL confirmed they had released nearly $2 billion in LWA funds, but their payment processor – KeyBank – was unable to process payments that caused a 3 day delay in payments much to the angst of may NewYorkers whose UI portal showed payments had been made.
A common question is people seeing less than the $300 for a given week they got the payment. The main reason for this is that the $300 LWA payment is taxable. So if you were getting your existing UI taxed, then so will the LWA payment.
| State | LWA Status | Start Date | Max Weeks | Weekly Amount |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Alabama | Paid | Sep 6th | 6 | $300 |
| Alaska | Paid | Nov 6th (see estimate details) | 6 | $300 |
| Arizona | Paid | Aug 17th | 6 | $300 |
| Arkansas | Paid | Sep 12 (up to Oct 2nd) | 6 | $300 |
| California | Paid | Sep 7th (Phase 1) Sep 15th (Phase 2) | 6 | $300 |
| Colorado | Paid | From Sep 18th (in batches) | 6 | $300 |
| Connecticut | Paid | Sep 17th | 5 | $300 |
| Delaware | Paid | Sep 18th | 6 | $300 |
| District of Columbia | Paid | From Sep 28th (in batches) | 6 | $300 |
| Florida | Paid | Sep 8th | 4 | $300 |
| Georgia | Paid | Sep 12th | 6 | $300 |
| Hawaii | Paid | Sep 23rd (see schedule) | 6 | $300 |
| Idaho | Paid | Sep 12th | 6 | $300 |
| Illinois | Paid | Sep 8th | 6 | $300 |
| Indiana | Paid | Week of Sep 21st | 6 | $300 |
| Iowa | Paid | Sep 9th | 6 | $300 |
| Kansas | Paid | From Oct 6th (see schedule/details) | 6 | $300 |
| Kentucky | Paid | Sep 15th | 6 | $400 |
| Louisiana | Paid | Aug 27th | 6 | $300 |
| Maine | Paid | Sep 12th | 6 | $300 |
| Maryland | Paid | Sep 12th (schedule) | 6 | $300 |
| Massachusetts | Paid | Sep 7th | 6 | $300 |
| Michigan | Paid | Sep 10th | 6 | $300 |
| Minnesota | Paid | Sep 4th | 6 | $300 |
| Mississippi | Paid | Sep 10th | 6 | $300 |
| Missouri | Paid | Aug 23rd | 6 | $300 |
| Montana | Paid | Aug 30th | 6 | $400 |
| Nebraska | Paid | Sep 18th (First 3 weeks) From Sep 20th (remaining payments) | 6 | $300 |
| Nevada | Paying 5th and 6th weeks | From Oct 20th (First 3 weeks) From Nov 11 (Last 3 weeks) (see DETR updates) | 6 | $300 |
| New Hampshire | Paid | Sep 12th | 6 | $300 |
| New Jersey | Paid | From Oct 22nd (see more details) | 6 | $300 |
| New Mexico | Paid | Sep 10th | 6 | $300 |
| New York | Paid | Sep 14th | 6 | $300 |
| North Carolina | Paid | Sep 6th (4 weeks) Sep 16th (2 weeks) | 6 | $300 |
| North Dakota | Paid | Sep 17th | 6 | $300 |
| Ohio | Paid | From Sep 14th (on PUA) From Sep 20th (others) | 6 | $300 |
| Oklahoma | Paid | Sep 23rd | 6 | $300 |
| Oregon | Paid | October 2nd | 6 | $300 |
| Pennsylvania | Paid | Sep 17th (first 3 wk batch) Sep 24th (second 3wk batch) | 6 | $300 |
| Rhode Island | Paid | Sep 6th | 6 | $300 |
| South Carolina | Paid | Sep 25th (7 to 14 days processing) | 6 | $300 |
| South Dakota | No Payment | Did not enroll | 6 | - |
| Tennessee | Paid | Aug 30th | 6 | $300 |
| Texas | Paid | Aug 23rd | 6 | $300 |
| Utah | Paid | Sep 9th to Sep 23rd (paying in batches) | 6 | $300 |
| Vermont | Paid | Week of Sep 14th | 6 | $300 |
| Virginia | Paid | Oct 19th (see payout details) | 6 | $300 |
| Washington | Paid | Sep 22nd | 6 | $300 |
| West Virginia | Paid | Sep 16th | 6 | $400 |
Payment Start date is when the state actually started processing LWA payments OR is the estimated date of the first payment processing based on available information. Note: Due to bank processing delays, it can take 2 to 4 days after the noted dates for benefits to hit your bank account or debit card. Please see links to more information in the table or your state UI website for specific payment status. If you find any mistakes or have updates, please leave a comment below and I will update table to help others.
As of September 18th, a lot of NY readers are posting comments that their first batch of LWA payments (which was due to be paid on Sep 15th according to the NY DOL) has not yet hit their bank accounts. The NY DOL has posted on twitter, “The first round of LWA payments has been released for those who were pre-qualified and those who certified by 5 pm on 9/15. After certifying, payments will be released in 1-2 business days if you are eligible”
NY DOL confirmed they have released ~$1.9 billion in LWA funds to 2.26 million NYers. But looks like an issue with their processor – KeyBank. Despite assurances their system could handle the load, KeyBank was unable to process payments overnight on 9/17.
KeyBank has said payments have been processed & will reach bank accounts by 4:30PM on Sep 18th at the latest. Which was the case for a lot of people, however per a recent tweet at 9pm on Sep 18th, it looks like payment delays will continue for many others and may take till Monday Sep 21st for people to see their LWA money! Disappointing news indeed.