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PUA, PEUC extensions part of stimulus deal

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Only a few particulars on the federal stimulus package were available for discussion during the state Labor & Industry’s virtual news briefing Monday morning. The deal, cobbled together over the weekend, had not been approved by Congress and signed by President Donald Trump, and details were sparse.

However, Jenn Berrier, acting L&I secretary, did announce an aspect of the bill that should provide relief in many ways. “What we do know,” she said, “is there will be an extension of the PUA and PEUC programs.”

The Pandemic Unemployment Assistance and the Pandemic Emergency Unemployment Compensation programs, scheduled to expire Dec. 31, will continue for nearly 19 million Americans who were to lose them. This new package, if approved Monday – as speculated – would provide weekly payments of $300 up to 11 weeks in each program.

That $300 is half of what was disbursed under the first stimulus package during the spring.

Berrier, her predecessor, Jerry Oleksiak, and Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf have been urging Congress for months to extend or replace the PUA and PEUC programs, created in response to the coronavirus pandemic.

More than 500,000 Pennsylvanians were slated to lose these benefits at the end of the year, including about 400,000 PUA recipients: gig workers, independent contractors and others. An estimated 109,000 PEUC claimants, who get up to 13 weeks of payments after 20 weeks of regular UC benefits are exhausted, also were to be cut off.

Both programs were created in March by the federal CARES Act.

These extensions, though, may not prove to be a seamless transition for PUA and PEUC claimants. Because the deal was consummated so close to the programs’ end, and because states’ computer systems would have to be updated, there could be lag times between payments.

“After this becomes law, each state will await federal guidelines on proceeding, and we will offer information,” said Berrier, who anticipates “a fairly quick roll-out of information.”

This deal also is expected to provide $600 payments to adults in the U.S. who earn up to $75,000; nearly $300 billion to assist businesses and resurrect the Paycheck Protection Program for small businesses; and many other allocations.

Berrier was accompanied on the briefing by Gladys Brown Dutrieuille, chair of the state Public Utility Commission, who discussed safeguards and utility assistance options available to customers during this time of high unemployment.

On the first day of winter, she advised customers to “explore your options to keep safe, warm and connected to your utilities.”

She said there “has been an increase in the number of people who have been unable to pay” utility bills, and advised consumers that there are payment plans available to consumers, including Budget Billing and Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP).

“Getting connected to some programs may be only a phone call away,” Brown Dutrieuille said.

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