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Unemployed workers would receive an additional 11 weeks of unemployment benefits and a weekly $ 300 increase in aid payments as part of a Covid relief deal reached by Congress on Sunday.
Certain self-employed and handymen would also receive an additional $ 100 per week, according to a document summarizing the law.
The 11-week timeline is less than the amount offered by a two-tier package released earlier this month. That bill would have paid extended and improved benefits for 16 weeks to mid-April.
In total, the $ 900 billion compromise package, the result of frenzied negotiations leading up to a year-end benefits cliff for millions of workers, provides $ 120 billion in additional unemployment benefits.
More than 20 million Americans receive unemployment benefits, according to the Department of Labor.
$ 300 weekly improvement
PUA and PEUC extended
The legislation would also expand two programs set up by the CARES Act: Pandemic Unemployment Assistance, in which benefits are paid to self-employed, handyman, freelancers and part-time workers who generally do not qualify for state unemployment insurance; and Pandemic Emergency Unemployment Compensation, which pays extra weeks of benefits to individuals who have exhausted their government benefits.
$ 100 boost for self-employed
Some self-employed, chores, and other workers who have both a wage (i.e. W-2) and self-employed (i.e. 1099) income are also eligible for an additional $ 100 per week.
Many of these persons receive low unemployment benefits as a result of the calculation of their benefits. States base their benefit levels solely on wages listed on their annual W-2 tax forms, without regard to self-employment income, which can be much higher.
The bill also provides direct economic relief to individuals through $ 600 incentive vouchers for individuals making up to $ 75,000 per year, $ 1,200 for couples making up to $ 150,000, and an additional $ 600 for dependent children.