Alaskans waiting for a maximum $1,800 supplement to their unemployment benefits during the COVID-19 economic crash continue to experience disappointment days after the distribution was promised by a state official.
On Tuesday, Cathy Muñoz, deputy commissioner with the Alaska Department of Labor and Workforce Development, blamed accounting, technical and other issues for the delay.
Muñoz earlier this month said the checks would be delivered last week. In an email on Tuesday, she did not say when money would arrive.
“We regret the delay, but it is critical that the program is accurate to (ensure) that benefits are properly paid,” Muñoz said.
More than 35,000 people are likely eligible for the extra money, which originally was expected to be made in six weekly payments of $300 apiece, but now can be made as one lump sum, said Lennon Weller, an economist with the state labor department.
About 12% of the Alaska workforce has collected unemployment benefits in recent weeks, a staggeringly high number after the pandemic that began in March hampered business activity across the state.
Several beneficiaries awaiting the extra payment have reached out to the Daily News. They say they’ve been anticipating the additional payments for weeks, after Gov. Mike Dunleavy in August approved the federally funded distribution. President Donald Trump in August signed the executive order that allowed states to use the money to replace a $600 weekly unemployment boost approved by Congress that ended in July.
The money comes atop traditional benefit checks in Alaska that averaged about $250 weekly before the pandemic.
“We are hanging on by a thread,” said Leonard Savage, 63, a longtime Alaska Native ivory carver.
Savage, who owns alaskaivory.com, makes much of his yearly income in summer. But this summer, shops and events where he sells his work were shuttered after COVID-19 hampered tourism, destroying the critical sales season.
Now, he’s struggling to support his family. He’s maxed out two credit cards to get by, he said. He’s counting on the $1,800 to make the next mortgage payment in a few days, and pay other bills.
“I’m so much in debt I don’t want to think about it, because if I thought about it, I couldn’t sleep,” he said.
Nearly every state was approved to distribute the extra money under the Lost Wages Assistance program, said Isabel Soto, director of labor market policy…
Read More: State blames technical glitches as tens of thousands of Alaskans await $300