Dear John,

Report after report is highlighting what families in every corner of Oregon already know firsthand: The economic impacts of the coronavirus are dire, with big implications for hundreds of thousands of households across our state.Those effects are scary, and pose an uncertain future for many of our friends and neighbors.

One of the most important ways to help individuals and families get through this crisis is to use the unemployment insurance system to get cash into the hands of people who lose their incomes. I pushed hard to expand unemployment insurance benefits in coronavirus emergency relief legislation passed by Congress.

Although there have been significant backlogs and administrative challenges due to the historic claims volume, Oregonians are already getting some of the benefits of that legislation, which:

-- Provides a $600 per week increase to unemployment insurance payments for every unemployed Oregonian, which will allow the average worker to replace their full wages;
-- Extends federally funded unemployment by an additional 13 weeks for those who have already used their 26 weeks of state unemployment benefits;
-- Helps Oregon and states across America increase their capacity to process unemployment requests, by providing $1 billion in emergency grants to states; and
-- Provides 100% federal funding for Oregon's Work Share Program -- which helps employees earn their full paycheck even on reduced hours.

Click HERE to read my full summary of the enhanced unemployment insurance provisions included in the coronavirus relief bills.>>>

I’m pleased to share that, as of this week, another critical unemployment insurance provision of the recently-passed legislation comes into effect, allowing self-employed individuals, 1099 contract workers, gig workers, and others who were previously not eligible to apply for unemployment insurance using this link.  

These are all significant resources that will help countless families, and I know that makes it all the more frustrating when people run into obstacles applying for benefits. The Oregon Department of Employment has shared that Oregonians have been filing for unemployment benefits at rates over 15 times higher than before this crisis hit. That’s a startling indicator of the coronavirus’ massive ripple effects, and that’s why I’ve been doing everything I can on the federal level to help make these benefits available as quickly as possible, and encourage their urgent rollout at the state level.

Please know that I will continue making that push, and will keep you updated with more information as it becomes available.You can always get the latest information at Merkley.senate.gov/coronavirus. I hope you will continue to stay home if you can and stay safe -- and remember, we’re all in this together.

All my best,
Jeff