Updates on the second federal aid bill’s UI and paid sick leave provisions
The $2 trillion federal aid bill enacted last week was the third bill related to COVID-19. The second aid bill, the Families First Coronavirus Response Act, was signed March 18, 2020. It includes $1 billion in unemployment insurance administrative grants for states. The U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) has issued guidance for state workforce agencies […]
24th of March 2020
National groups call for aid for state governments
As Congress continues to debate further response to COVID-19, some national groups are calling for aid for state governments. The National Governors Association (NGA) has asked Congress for $150 billion “in immediate direct aid to the states, with maximum flexibility for governors’ COVID19 efforts.” NGA also thinks the recently adopted temporary 6.2 percentage point increase […]
20th of March 2020
Federal funding for Washington will increase by hundreds of millions of dollars under temporarily increased Medicaid match
Under the Families First Coronavirus Response Act, the federal government has temporarily mandated paid sick leave and provided $1 billion for unemployment insurance grants to states. Additionally, the act increases federal funding for Medicaid. First, the federal government will pay 100 percent of the cost of COVID-19 testing for the uninsured and there will be […]
New, temporary federal mandate for paid sick leave during the crisis
Wednesday President Trump signed H.R. 6201, the Families First Coronavirus Response Act. As I noted yesterday, it includes provisions related to unemployment insurance. It also requires private employers with fewer than 500 employees and all public employers to provide paid sick leave to their employees who can’t work because they must quarantine or care for […]
19th of March 2020
A big increase in unemployment claims, and how Washington is using unemployment insurance to respond to outbreak
Today the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) reported that national unemployment insurance (UI) claims for the week ending March 14 increased by 70,000, to 281,000 (seasonally adjusted): “During the week ending March 14, the increase in initial claims are clearly attributable to impacts from the COVID-19 virus.” Non-seasonally adjusted data by state is available: For […]