Eligibility for extended federal unemployment benefits and the $25 weekly benefit supplement has been restored to Idaho workers through April 3.
The legislation approved by Congress and signed by President Obama does not increase benefits but only extends for another month eligibility of current claimants to qualify for the various tiers of extended benefits financed by the federal government. The extensions have added up to 73 weeks of benefits to the regular benefit maximum of 26 weeks.
Idaho Department of Labor Deputy Director Roy Valdez emphasized that claimants do not need to call about the extension.
“Eligibility for federally funded extended benefits will be determined automatically, and claimants do not need to contact the Idaho Department of Labor to apply for the extension,” Valdez said. “There should be no delay.”
Should they try, they may have trouble getting through. The agency is already experiencing a huge volume of calls – at times as many as 25,000 in a single morning. During December the agency received more than 833,000 calls - the highest volume of calls received during any month in 2009.
The 30-day eligibility extension is intended to give Congress time to work out details of a broader jobs bills that would also lengthen the eligibility deadline for extended benefits beyond April 3.
In 2009, the state paid a record $643 million in regular, extended and supplemental unemployment insurance benefits to over 116,000 people who were out of work.