Program to Provide Extra $300 a Week to Unemployed Minnesotans

ST. PAUL – Out-of-work Minnesotans will soon see additional money added to their unemployment benefits.

The Lost Wages Assistance program, managed by FEMA, will provide individuals receiving unemployment benefits with an extra $300 a week.

To be eligible, a person must have a weekly unemployment benefit amount of at least $100, and must be unemployed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

“When the additional federal $600 weekly benefit ended in late July, hundreds of thousands of Minnesotans who remain out of work were affected,” said Minnesota Governor Tim Walz. “Without additional federal benefits, families are struggling to pay for basic necessities. We must use every resource at our disposal to help Minnesotans through this pandemic.”

“DEED has already completed all the necessary work to ensure we can make payments as soon as we get funding transferred from the Federal Government,” said DEED Commissioner Steve Grove. “We know Minnesotans are anxious to receive these supplemental payments, and we are doing all we can to make that happen as quickly as possible.”

The Unemployment Insurance program will begin to pay benefits when the funding is received from the U.S. Department of the Treasury. These benefits are retroactive to the week ending Aug. 1. The first three weeks for which the state will make payments to eligible applicants are: July 26 – August 1; August 2 – August 8; and August 9 – August 15. State officials say the first payments could arrive at the end of the week of August 30 or the beginning of the week of September 6.

People currently receiving unemployment benefits do not need to reapply to receive the additional $300 a week. DEED anticipates the program will last between five to eight weeks.

For more information visit the State of Minnesota’s Unemployment Insurance website.