The Indiana Department of Workforce Development will stop issuing an additional $600 to recipients of unemployment benefits on July 25, but many Hoosiers say it needs to be extended or replaced.
The $600 expires at the end of the month due to a provision in the federal CARES Act. If unemployed workers file for benefits on or before July 25, DWD said it will make the additional payments. Unless Congress provides additional relief, the maximum Hoosiers could get in unemployment assistance would decrease to, at most, $390 per week.
Indianapolis resident Tierra Richardson lost her job due to the pandemic. She says without some kind of add-on to benefits, she won’t have enough money to cover rent and utilities – and she’s almost out of savings.
“I don’t think we deserve the $600, but at this time of need we do need the money because people are losing their jobs,” she said. “People are falling behind in bills.”
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Still others say they’ve been waiting months to receive any benefits at all as a backlog of claims are still being processed and verified by the state.
Contact reporter Justin at jhicks@wvpe.org or follow him on Twitter at @Hicks_JustinM.