U.S. Department of Labor Announces Boost in Weekly Unemployment Benefit Amounts

/PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Secretary of Labor Hilda L. Solis today announced a weekly increase in unemployment compensation, as provided for in the stimulus legislation, the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, enacted on Feb. 17.

The new temporary Federal Additional Compensation program will provide a $25 weekly increase in unemployment compensation for eligible workers. These extra benefits are 100 percent federally-funded.

The stimulus legislation also extended the Emergency Unemployment Compensation program, which was scheduled to expire on Aug. 27, 2009. "The program has been extended to Dec. 31, 2009, for new applications, with a 'phase-out' period ending May 31, 2010," said Secretary Solis. "Both the Emergency Unemployment Compensation and the Federal Additional Compensation programs provide temporary financial support to unemployed workers to help them pay for basic necessities such as food, clothing, medicine and gasoline while they look for new jobs."

To qualify for these benefits, unemployed workers must first be determined eligible for unemployment benefits by the appropriate state workforce agency. Workers must have earned sufficient wages from prior recent employment and have been separated from employment for non-disqualifying reasons (as determined under state law). Eligible workers must also be able to work and be available for work while receiving these unemployment benefits.

All 50 states, the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands have executed agreements with the U.S. Department of Labor to administer these programs. States will begin to make the extra payments as early as the week of March 1, 2009, for weeks of unemployment effective Feb. 22, 2009.

For information on unemployment compensation, visit http://www.dol.gov/.




FACT SHEET

EMERGENCY UNEMPLOYMENT COMPENSATION AND FEDERAL ADDITIONAL COMPENSATION UNDER AMERICAN RECOVERY AND REINVESTMENT ACT OF 2009

Emergency Unemployment Compensation, 2008 (EUC08) - Program Extension
-- The EUC08 program, created on June 30, 2008, provides up to 20 weeks
of federally-funded benefits to eligible unemployed workers who have
collected all their regular state unemployment benefits. An
additional 13 weeks of EUC are available in states with high levels of
unemployment.
-- The EUC08 program was scheduled to expire on Aug. 27, 2009. The
stimulus legislation, Public Law Number 111-5, which was enacted on
Feb. 17, 2009, extends the expiration date of the EUC08 program to May
31, 2010.
-- The period during which an individual may establish eligibility for
EUC08 is extended from March 31, 2009, to the week of unemployment
ending on or before Dec. 31, 2009, and the "phase-out" or expiration
date of the program is extended from Aug. 27, 2009 to May 31, 2010.
-- The stimulus legislation does not provide additional weeks of benefits
for individuals who have or will exhaust their EUC08 benefits.
Federal Additional Compensation (FAC)
-- The stimulus legislation also created a new FAC program that provides
a $25 supplement that is payable to individuals receiving state
unemployment compensation (UC) or Federal UC. The $25 supplement does
not apply to state-financed Additional Compensation programs.
-- All 50 states, the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto
Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands executed agreements with the
secretary of labor to administer this new program on behalf of the
federal government on or before Feb. 21, 2009; therefore, the program
is effective Feb. 22, 2009, in all states/jurisdictions.
-- States are modifying their automated benefit payment systems to
implement FAC. Many states will begin to make payments during the week
of March 1, 2009, for weeks of unemployment effective Feb. 22, 2009.
However, due to the complexity of changing automated systems, some
states have advised that they may implement later, making payments
retroactively.

States will calculate the individual's weekly benefit amount and make any adjustments in accordance with state law to account for any earnings, and any other deductions (for example, severance and retirement/pension payments).

-- The $25 supplement is taxable. Therefore, states will include the
total benefits received including the $25 increase(s) in issuing a
1099G to claimants.
-- The $25 supplement/payments will be paid from federal general
revenues. States will receive administrative costs associated with
implementing the $25 add-on.

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USDA Announces Amended Farm Bill Provisions and New Sign Up Deadline

Owners and operators of farms with 10 or fewer base acres now have the opportunity to receive payments for the 2008 Direct and Counter-cyclical Payment Program. On Oct. 13, 2008, President George W. Bush signed a bill that made amendments to the 2008 Farm Bill.

These amendments apply to farms with crop acreage bases of 10 acres or less. These changes and clarifications allow some producers more flexibility in farming practices and create new sign-up opportunities with new deadlines for some farms. The amendments also apply to the new Supplemental Revenue Assistance (SURE) Program.

10-Base Acre Limit Changes

As originally enacted under the 2008 Farm Bill, direct and countercyclical payments (DCP) could not be made with respect to farms with crop acreage bases of 10 acres or less. The new law makes that provision inapplicable for the 2008 crop year. Related to this, producers on a farm with 10 acres or less of base may now, under the new law, enroll their farms until Nov. 26, 2008, in the 2008 DCP program. This extension of the original Sept. 30 deadline only applies to producers who were previously excluded because of the minimum acreage requirement. USDA began issuing payments to producers on farms with 10 base acres or less who had already enrolled in the DCP program soon after the President signed the new law.

USDA's Farm Service Agency (FSA) will now resume allowing reconstitutions for farms with 10 acres of base or less according to normal reconstitution rules and policy. Eligible producers may sign up for DCP at any FSA office or enroll on the FSA website at: www.fsa.usda.gov/dcp click on Access eDCP Services.

Supplemental Revenue Assistance Program (SURE) Changes

Under SURE in the 2008 Farm Bill, producers seeking disaster benefits must generally have obtained crop insurance or coverage under the Non-insured crop disaster Assistance Program (NAP) for all crops on all farms. Under the new law (P.L. 110-398), producers with crops that had 2009 crop insurance sales closing dates before Aug. 14, 2008, may pay a fee through Jan. 12, 2009, to participate in SURE. Producers may make their SURE participation fee payments to their local FSA office at this time.

The SURE program fee is equal to the fee for catastrophic coverage. Payment of the SURE program fee will not make the producer eligible for insurance coverage.

Producers also have a new minimum loss threshold under SURE. Under the new law, to qualify for payments, there must be a production loss of at least 10 percent for at least one crop of economic significance on the farm.

Under the SURE program, the new law provides that when a second crop is planted after the first crop was prevented from being planted, or if such first crop failed, the second planting will not count toward the SURE program guarantee or total farm revenue. This is true except in areas where double-cropping is a normal practice. Producers also are not required to purchase crop insurance or a NAP policy for the second crop.

By provision of the new statute, the purchase of insurance or a NAP policy for grazed acreage is no longer a requirement for the SURE program. However, such insurance is required as a condition for payment for the livestock feed program, tree assistance program and the emergency livestock, honeybees and farm-related fish programs.

In addition, the new law amends SURE eligibility so that crop insurance or NAP coverage is no longer required for crops that are not of economic significance or those where the administrative fee required to buy NAP coverage exceeds 10 percent of the value of the coverage.

Producers can contact their local FSA office for more information regarding SURE program implementation.

NAP (Non-Insured crop disaster Assistance Program) Application Deadline Changes

NAP application closing dates for the 2009 crops have been extended to Dec. 1, 2008. This extension for 2009 NAP applies to those crops having an application closing date prior to Dec. 1, 2008. This extension was authorized due to the late enactment of the 2008 Farm Bill and to accommodate those applicants wanting to participate in disaster assistance programs under the 2008 Act's Supplemental Agricultural Disaster Assistance for their 2009 crops.

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