Category: Government Rebates and Payments

Over the weekend President Trump signed a series of executive orders expanding certain Coronavirus economic relief provisions, following the inability of Congress (Republicans and Democrats) to reach a deal on a new stimulus bill. The executive orders cover the following four key items, which are likely to be challenged in…

The IRS has now resolved glitches on the non-filer portal for those who did not file a tax return in 2018 or 2019, which was used as the initial basis for determining eligibility for the $500 Dependent Economic Impact Payment (a.k.a. stimulus check) approved under the CARES act. Non-filers were…

The Unemployment Insurance Division of the Wisconsin Department of Workforce Development (DWD) oversees the unemployment insurance program for the state. This includes processing and payment unemployment insurance claims. How Much Unemployment Can I Get? With the expiry the pandemic unemployment programs, only traditional/regular state unemployment is available for full or…

The unemployment systems and payments for Ohioans is under the purview of the Ohio Department of Jobs and Family Services (ODJFS) and is funded from the Ohio Unemployment Trust Fund. The money in the fund comes from unemployment taxes that local employers pay the state. For the past couple of…

Despite an end of federally funded unemployment benefits many unemployed Americans are apparently "lazy" when it comes to returning to work. This is borne out by the over 10 million of open vacancies as the COVID-19 pandemic recedes to the background. Are enhanced unemployment benefits making unemployed workers lazy? For…

Congressional Republican leaders have announced that an extension of the extra $600 weekly unemployment benefit likely won’t happen by the end of July when it is scheduled to expire. This will likely be a big blow to the millions of unemployed Americans who depend on the additional federally funded weekly…

[October Pre Election Update] Millions of Americans are desperately asking, "when will the next stimulus check payment arrive?" However due to the ongoing Congressional stalemate around compromising on a comprehensive stimulus package, the payment of another stimulus check in 2020 continues to be delayed. There have however been some promising…

As the pandemic and COVID outbreaks spread across the country there is increasing pressure on lawmakers to pass an additional stimulus relief package before the end of 2020. While there have been a few proposals (e.g. HEROEs act) that have passed one chamber of Congress, bipartisan support has been non-existent.…

I have been getting lots of questions and comments around the Pandemic Unemployment Assistance (PUA) program and delays many unemployed Americans are experiencing getting their benefit payments, especially the latest extensions that are now in place. Here is some more background and some possible reasons for the delayed payments, including…

Great graphic from the CBPP on maximum unemployment insurance benefit duration (in weeks) by state. Unemployment insurance (UI) benefits are state administered and generally most workers are eligible for UI benefits for between 13 to 26 weeks. But with the enhanced unemployment benefits now available under the CARES act, specifically…

Funding for another round of stimulus checks has been passed. You can see more on how and when this will be paid by the IRS and payment issues being experienced by federal beneficiaries (non-filers) in this article. [Update] Congress continues to be at an impasse on agreeing to a stimulus…

This article was updated following the latest round of Enhanced UI extensions and $300 FPUC Payments until September, 6th, 2021. The legislation for the 2021 UI extensions limited back dating for new or initial claims to March 14th, 2021 under the latest ARP (Biden stimulus bill) extension. Further the $300…

Congress and President Biden have now passed into law the $2 trillion stimulus package, also known as the American Rescue Plan (ARP). It includes further unemployment program extensions until September 6th, 2021 for the PUA, PEUC and FPUC programs originally funded under the CARES act in 2020 and then extended via the CAA…