EDD Update on Launching the American Rescue Plan of 2021

States have now received official guidance on how to implement the American Rescue Plan Act. The U.S. Department of Labor expects that states will need until the middle of April or later to implement the new provisions. EDD has shared details of the new benefits, which include:

• Californians collecting either regular state Unemployment Insurance (UI) or Federal-State Extended Duration (FED-ED) continue to receive the extra $300 per week in benefits without interruption.
• Californians can now file new Pandemic Unemployment Assistance (PUA) claims, and will start receiving a minimum of $167 per week, plus the extra $300 Pandemic Additional Compensation (PAC). New claimants will also be able to provide income documentation to potentially increase this payment up to $450 per week, starting April 10.
• Californians with existing or exhausted PUA claims will be able to certify for benefits by April 10.
• EDD will begin automatically processing PEUC extensions, with the additional weeks of benefits available for certification by April 30.
• EDD has also provided a federal benefits availability chart to help Californians understand what benefits are available during the pandemic.