By Joshua Huff, sports editor
MONTGOMERY – The Alabama Department of Labor announced on Monday, May 4, 2020, that the department has issued payments to 84% of individuals who have filed for coronavirus-related unemployment benefits dating back to March 16, 2020.
Labor Secretary Fitzgerald Washington said that the department has disbursed more than $503 million in COVID-19-related unemployment compensation benefits under all three programs covered in the CARES act: Federal Pandemic Unemployment Compensation (FPUC), Pandemic Unemployment Assistance (PUA) and Pandemic Emergency Unemployment Compensation (PEUC).
“Following last week’s release of the new PUA app, we were able to get a good deal of those benefits out in a faster manner,” Washington said. “Additionally, those who have exhausted their unemployment claims are now seeing payments.”
The department has paid $503,011,424 to 206,695 claimants through March 16-May 1, 2020. Of that $503 million, $247,872,000 of those funds are FPUC, the $600 stimulus benefit added to weekly unemployment compensation benefits, $5,201,412 represent PUA funds and $826,734 are from PEUC funds.
“We continue to work on a daily basis to improve the systems to make them more efficient and to streamline payments,” Washington said. “We hear the complaints and take them seriously. ADOL is working around the clock to ensure that everyone who is entitled to these funds receives them. Even though we’ve made payments to 84% of those who have filed, we know there are many still waiting, and you have not been forgotten.”