Hundreds of thousands of Georgians losing their jobless benefits this week will likely wait a while to receive help from the federal relief package Congress has passed.
None of the help can flow yet, with fresh delays after the president balked Tuesday at signing the bipartisan legislation.
Delays will be painful for many who have been jobless since early in the pandemic, but Georgia’s Department of Labor just doesn’t have the information it needs to start passing money to claimants, said spokeswoman Kersha Cartwright.
“Every department of labor across the nation is waiting for guidelines,” she added.
The bill extends federal unemployment benefits by 11 weeks. It also provides a $300-a-week subsidy through March 14 to anyone receiving unemployment benefits, including gig workers and self-employed, who didn’t ordinarily qualify for jobless benefits. The measure also adds a new $100-a-week payment to workers who have both wage and self-employment income under certain guidelines.