Name: Extra $400 for jobless Oklahomans on hold as feds may request funds back, officials say
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Extra $400 for jobless Oklahomans on hold as feds may request funds back, officials say

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Please subscribe to keep reading. You can cancel at any time.Already a subscriber?or .Loading&amp;hellp;Please log in to keep reading.Enjoy unlimited articles at one of our lowest prices ever.You are the owner of this article.You have permission to edit this article.© 2020 Lee EnterprisesExtra $400 for jobless Oklahomans on hold as feds may request funds returned, officials sayShare thisState officials have hit pause on a plan to send out one-time, $400 payments to people who lost their jobs due to COVID-19.Oklahoma Employment Security Commission Executive Director Shelley Zumwalt said in a news release Wednesday that the payments would be on hold after the state agency received what it called “conflicting guidance” as to use of the excess funds.Officials did not provide a date as to when the payment would be sent out, if at all.State officials that one-time, $400 payments from unused Lost Wages Assistance program funds administered by the Federal Emergency Management Agency would be sent to about 120,000 out-of-work Oklahomans.The payments were to begin Wednesday.But state officials said Wednesday in a news release that the so-called Additional Lost Wages program is now shelved.A FEMA spokesman said in a statement to the World that Oklahoma received nearly $302.5 million in LWA program funding. The summer program provided $300 weekly payments for six weeks, if the job was lost due to COVID-19.The six weeks ran from Aug. 1 through Sept. 5.Oklahoma had planned to send one-time $400 payments from its remaining LWA funds to about 120,000 individuals who were out of work the week ending Sept. 12.However, FEMA said in its statement provided to the World that: “Any excess funding received from FEMA that is not utilized for the six weeks of assistance authorized must be returned to FEMA.Your subscription makes our reporting possible.“States and territories may not use the funding to pay claimants for any other weeks of assistance (beyond the weeks ending Aug. 1, 2020 through Sept. 5, 2020) or for an amount beyond the $300 federal contribution approved.”Zumwalt said the program is overseen by the U.S. Department of Labor and FEMA and is unlike other CARES Act programs.“We have been in communication with both of these federal agencies and have received conflicting guidance from them about the path forward for distributing LWA funds,” Zumwalt said.She said the agency had excess funds because of its efforts at the time to “get people back to work, lower claims volumes and stop fraud.”Zumwalt continued: “Because of these actions, claims volumes dropped significantly from the estimate that was forecasted. We had hoped that, as a result of this effort, the state would be able to again provide assistance to claimants with these funds. To be clear, through sound fiscal management the state of Oklahoma saved over $50 million.”The state agency said it would wait to see if a new federal relief package is passed before deciding what to do about the $400 payments."If new federal legislation is passed and a new federal unemployment relief package reaches Oklahomans, it will be clear that OESC will return the funds to FEMA,” Zumwalt said. “Based on the guidance we received about these federal packages, there is a possibility that distributing remaining LWA funds could be seen as an overpayment that would have to be recalled and returned.“We do not want to put Oklahomans in this position, so OESC will hold on starting to process these payments until we have a definite answer about the future of LWA funds.”Subscribe to our Daily Headlines newsletter.© Copyright 2020 , 315 S. Boulder Ave. Tulsa, OK&nbsp;| &nbsp;|Powered by from .{{title}}{{summary}}You don't have any notifications.Get up-to-the-minute news sent straight to your device.Topics

Please subscribe to keep reading. You can cancel at any time.Already a subscriber?or .Loading&amp;hellp;Please log in to keep reading.Enjoy unlimited articles at one of our lowest prices ever.You are the owner of this article.You have permission to edit this article.© 2020 Lee EnterprisesExtra $400 for jobless Oklahomans on hold as feds may request funds returned, officials sayShare thisState officials have hit pause on a plan to send out one-time, $400 payments to people who lost their jobs due to COVID-19.Oklahoma Employment Security Commission Executive Director Shelley Zumwalt said in a...

Extra $400 for jobless Oklahomans on hold as feds may request funds back, officials say

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