CHEYENNE – On September 9, 2020 the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) informed the Wyoming Department of Workforce Services (DWS), that the Lost Wages Assistance program (LWA), which provided an additional $300 a week to qualified unemployment claimants will end with benefit week September 5, 2020. DWS is in the final stages of program implementation and payments will be provided to eligible individuals in the coming days.
FEMA previously approved DWS funding requests for the benefit weeks of:
- August 1, 2020
- August 8, 2020
- August 15, 2020
As soon as the program is fully implemented in Wyoming, DWS will issue retroactive payments to eligible claimants for the approved three weeks, and will continue to request funding for the additional three weeks as long as FEMA funds remain available. Claimants will continue to receive normal weekly benefit amounts for any benefit weeks for which they are eligible.
LWA was a temporary provision established after the expiration of the $600 Federal Pandemic Unemployment Compensation program, a part of the CARES Act. Other provisions of the federal act do not expire until December 26, 2020, including Pandemic Emergency Unemployment Compensation, and Pandemic Unemployment Assistance.