New unemployment boost should arrive in about 6 weeks for some out-of-work Alaskans

Federal officials have approved a grant that will boost Alaska’s unemployment benefit, but the new aid won’t reach all Alaskans, and it’s only half of what was lost when a federal benefit expired one month ago.

In an announcement Monday, Gov. Mike Dunleavy said the state has been approved for a Federal Emergency Management Agency grant that will temporarily boost unemployment payments by $300 per week.

The higher payments are retroactive to the week of July 25 but won’t begin for six weeks.

Furthermore, they’re limited: Gig workers, like Uber drivers, aren’t eligible to receive it, and those receiving less than $100 per month of unemployment payments also won’t get the increase.

“I was not going to refuse money because certain sectors may not be covered as well as others,” Dunleavy said.

But had the state pitched in, it could have covered those sectors.

Until July 25, the federal government had provided a boost of $600 per month that included gig workers, but Congress failed to approve legislation extending those payments. The money has been critical to keeping the state’s economy afloat. As many as one in five Alaskans was unemployed in June, and without the boost, the state’s maximum unemployment payment is only $370 per week, plus a stipend for parents.

President Trump subsequently signed an executive order allowing FEMA to send disaster-aid money to states but required them to match some of the funding with their own money.

The state had three options for that match, and Dunleavy chose to use the state’s existing unemployment benefits.

“The extension does not cover gig workers since 100% of the funding made available for the Pandemic Unemployment Assistance (PUA) program is federally derived,” said Cathy Muñoz, deputy commissioner of the Alaska Department of Labor.

If the state had contributed an extra $100 million to $160 million (estimates vary), gig workers would have been covered.

The increased unemployment aid will be paid for six to eight weeks, Muñoz said.

Tamika Ledbetter, commissioner of the Alaska Department of Labor and Workforce Development, said it will take the state “about six weeks” to begin payments.

Dunleavy said he sees the FEMA money is a “stopgap” between the lapsed federal program and any additional federal aid — or a job — for unemployed Alaskans.