PROVIDENCE – Gov. Donald L. Carcieri today certified the receipt of federal unemployment insurance funds that will increase an individual’s benefits by $25 a week beginning Monday, March 2.
Those already receiving unemployment benefits – whether regular unemployment insurance, R.I. Extended Benefits or Federal Emergency Unemployment Compensation payments – will not have to apply for the additional money, the governor’s office said.
The Federal Additional Compensation Program (FACP) expires Dec. 31. The week ending tomorrow is the first that will be eligible for coverage under the FACP, which means benefit recipients will see the additional $25 in their checks starting Monday.
Money for the program is part of the $1.1 billion the State of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations will receive under the $787 billion American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) of 2009. Leaders of the General Assembly today joined Carcieri for a Statehouse news conference to discuss their tentative plans for the stimulus funds. (READ MORE)
With 38,500 people receiving unemployment insurance payments in Rhode Island as of Feb. 14 – including about 2,800 people who filed new claims that week, the latest period for which such data are available – the increase in jobless benefits alone will amount to nearly $1 million per week, Carcieri said.
“That’s almost $1 million a week coming into our economy and helping families – that’s the most important part,” he said. What’s more, the governor noted, the additional payments will have no effect on the state’s general revenue fund.
The governor’s office said Carcieri is also moving to make additional changes in unemployment benefits, which will allow the state to “maximize the $23.5 million in stimulus funds.” No further details were offered.
News and information from the R.I. Governor’s Office are available at www.governor.ri.gov. Information about unemployment benefits in Rhode Island, or data about the local labor market, is available from the R.I. Department of Labor and Training at www.dlt.ri.gov.
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