Gov. Edwards announced yesterday that Louisiana will pursue an option under President Donald Trump’s executive order that it believes will allow around 454,000 eligible unemployed Louisianans to get $300 a week in additional assistance through the federal government. Edwards called it a temporary solution, as funds are limited.
On August 8, President Trump signed an executive order, allocating $44 billion from FEMA for interim Unemployment Insurance payments while Congressional negotiation continues on a remedy. FEMA will cover 75 percent of this stopgap measure, while individual states are responsible for the remaining 25 percent. This FEMA funding and state cost-share for UI benefits is an entirely different structure from the CARES legislation. At this time, no state has received funding. However, once finalized, benefits will be paid retroactive from August 1.
$5.4 billion in state unemployment benefits has been paid to the citizens of Louisiana from March 22-August 13, compared to $153 million in all of 2019.