Additional $300 Unemployment Benefit On The Way? Governor Abbott Officially Directs TWC To Apply For Federal Funds
FORT WORTH (CBSDFW.COM) - Governor Greg Abbott announced Thursday the Texas Workforce Commission (TWC) has applied for additional unemployment benefit funding made available through President Donald Trump's Lost Wage Assistance Executive Order.
The funding will provide an additional $300 per week in unemployment benefits starting with the August 23rd payment request.
"The Lost Wage Assistance program will provide crucial financial support to Texans who have lost their jobs due to the COVID-19 pandemic," said Governor Abbott. "Texas is grateful to President Trump for making these funds available to individuals and asks that our federal partners quickly grant this request so that TWC can swiftly administer this funding to Texans."
Earlier this month, President Trump signed an executive order for added unemployment benefits after Congress failed to reach an agreement on how much federal unemployment benefits should amount to.
The extra $600 federal pandemic unemployment benefit expired July 31st.
Many states have been slow to apply for the federal funding as states are required to kick in $100 to get the federal $300. However, Texas can achieve this by counting its already weekly unemployment payment toward the $100 match.
Wednesday evening the official TWC Twitter account prematurely posted the Governor's announcement. The tweet was quickly taken down. On Thursday is was once again posted. This time to stay.