RICHMOND, Va. -- Virginians on unemployment will get an extra $300 on top of what the state pays out.
Gov. Ralph Northam’s administration said this week that state is preparing to pay the extra benefit and is exploring ways to provide an extra $100 allowed under President Donald Trump’s executive order.
For months, on top of their state benefit, unemployed Virginians also collected $600 a week in federal jobless aid.
But that expired at the end of July, and negotiations in Congress to extend it have collapsed in rancor.
In response, Trump signed an executive order to provide $300 to $400 a week and Virginia is one of several states that will apply for the federal money.
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CBS 6 reached out to the governor's office for a comment on adding the federal funds to Virginia unemployment.
"The Virginia Employment Commission is preparing Virginia's application for the $300 per week benefit. We are exploring ways to provide the additional $100 in funding to Virginians, but we face many unanswered questions, administrative hurdles, and severely limited resources," said Alena Yarmosky, Press Secretary for the Office of Governor Ralph Northam.
"Governor Northam is continuing to call on Congress to work together on a robust package with more funding, and not make states, yet again, implement a whole new unemployment program that could take weeks to start."
Virginia Together: The Rebound Richmond campaign is here to help. Find information on who is hiring, investigations into unemployment payment issues, financial advice on making ends meet, and mental health advice on managing the pressures. These stories will be featured often on CBS 6 News and can be found by clicking this link.