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News from Representative Vicente Gonzalez
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NEWS FROM THE 15th DISTRICT
Dear Friends,
To ease the economic burden for those struggling with lost wages due to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, the President authorized FEMA to expend up to $44 billion from the Disaster Relief Fund for lost wage payments.
FEMA provided grants to Texas and the Texas Workforce Commission (TWC) will administer delivery of lost wages assistance as part of the Lost Wages Assistance (LWA) program. The LWA program provides supplemental payments to eligible unemployment benefits claimants who have been unemployed, partially unemployed, or unable or unavailable to work due to disruptions caused by COVID-19. Eligible Texas claimants receive a $300 LWA payment at the same time as their unemployment benefits payment. LWA benefits may be available retroactively starting with the benefit week ending (BWE) August 1, 2020.
To be eligible for LWA benefits:
1. Your weekly benefit amount must be $100 or more.
2. You must receive at least $1 of benefits from one of the following programs:
- Regular unemployment insurance
- Unemployment Compensation for Federal Employees (UCFE)
- Unemployment Compensation for Ex-Servicemembers (UCX)
- Pandemic Emergency Unemployment Compensation (PEUC)
- Pandemic Unemployment Assistance (PUA), note may appear as DUA in Unemployment Benefits Services (UBS)
- Extended Benefits (EB)
- Shared Work
- Trade Readjustment Allowances (TRA)
3. You must certify when submitting your payment request that you are unemployed, partially unemployed, or unable or unavailable to work due to disruptions caused by COVID-19.
Please note: Many claimants will not need to certify since they have already indicated to TWC that their employment was impacted by COVID-19. Claimants on a shared work plan will not need to certify if their employer notified TWC that their shared work employees had their hours reduced because of COVID-19.
LWA is not payable to individuals collecting Disaster Unemployment Assistance (DUA) unrelated to the pandemic, i.e. a tropical storm, hurricane, or flood. Individuals receiving DUA (DR 4485) benefits because their employment was impacted by COVID-19 are eligible for LWA.
How Do I Apply?
You do not need to apply for LWA benefits. Most claimants will receive LWA benefits when they become available because they have already indicated to TWC that their employment was impacted by COVID-19. Claimants on a shared work plan will also receive their benefits when they become available if their employer has notified TWC that their hours were reduced because of COVID-19.
If the state of Texas has not received verification that your job was impacted by COVID-19, on your first payment request after LWA becomes available, you will be asked to certify that you are unemployed, partially unemployed, or unable or unavailable to work due to disruptions caused by COVID-19.
More information on the LWA is available here.
If you have questions regarding this program or need assistance with matters involving the federal government, please do not hesitate to contact my offices.
Sincerely,
Vicente Gonzalez
Member of Congress |
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