(Source: Mark Wilson/Getty Images)
TAMPA, Fla. (WFLA) – Florida now has the technology to begin paying residents long-awaited benefits from the federal government, Gov. Ron DeSantis said Tuesday.
According to DeSantis, the Florida Department of Economic Opportunity has completed the necessary changes to begin paying the Federal Lost Wages Assistance Program (LWA) benefits to eligible Floridians.
The LWA program is a federal program provided to states through the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). It allows the state to offer an additional $300 per week to eligible Reemployment Assistance claimants.
To qualify, claimants must receive at least $100 in unemployment benefits and be able to prove they are unemployed or partially unemployed due to COVID-19.
The funds will be provided to “eligible Floridians for weeks ending August 1, August 8 and August 15, 2020.”
Eligible Floridians should receive their benefits this week.
“We thank President Trump and the Federal Emergency Management Agency for providing this relief to Floridians during this time of need,” DeSantis said in a news release. “These additional funds will provide critical support to Florida’s unemployed workforce due to COVID-19.”
But the extra funding is expected to be short-lived, according to Florida Politics, which reports both FEMA an the U.S. Department of Labor expect it to run out in approximately three weeks.
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