Covid relief bill pays extra $300 a week in jobless benefits

A Covid relief package released by a bipartisan group of senators Monday night would pay unemployed workers an extra $300 a week and extend jobless benefits for four months.

These unemployment provisions are in line with a draft legislative framework the group released last week.

The $300 weekly enhancement to benefits would not be retroactive. The federal government would pay the subsidy for any period of unemployment from Dec. 26 until April 19.

That weekly subsidy would follow two prior stipends paid by the federal government: a $600 boost provided by the CARES Act through July, and a $300 Lost Wages Assistance payment created by President Donald Trump with federal disaster relief funds.

The bipartisan legislation, the Bipartisan COVID-19 Emergency Relief Act of 2020, would also issue another 16 weeks of jobless benefits through two temporary federal programs set to expire in about a week and a half.

One of those programs, Pandemic Unemployment Assistance, pays benefits to self-employed, gig, freelance and other workers typically unable to receive jobless aid from states.

The other, Pandemic Emergency Unemployment Compensation, offers an extra 13 weeks of state benefits, which generally last for up to six months.