Dear Neighbor,
A week ago, I filed a bill with Sen. Lesser, and Reps. Hay, Sabadosa, Nguyen and Mark. The bill will make it possible for 17,000 low-income Massachusetts residents to receive 6 weeks of an added $300/week in unemployment benefits.
Last Wednesday, our committee on Labor and Workforce Development held a hearing and voted it favorably the same day.
On Monday, the House and Senate acted quickly to pass the bill, and the governor signed it this evening. This is among the fastest legislative actions I've ever seen.
President Trump established the Lost Wages program, which added $300/week to Unemployment checks for 6 weeks in August and September. Almost a million Massachusetts residents got that $1800. But the Trump administration included a restriction: people with less than $100 in benefits did not get that supplement. 17,000 of our constituents were left out.
Other states such as Rhode Island and New Hampshire acted to increase minimum benefits so low-income people would not be left out. A majority of legislators wrote to Labor Secretary Rosalin Acosta last month asking her to implement that increase.
The bill passed today makes necessary changes to make sure people with less than $100 in benefits receive that $1800 in added income.
Just last week, I heard from a neighbor and constituent who had $26000 in small business income but also $6000 in W2 income. Because he made just enough in W2 income to qualify for Unemployment Insurance (UI) benefits, he was denied Pandemic Unemployment Assistance (PUA). But his UI benefit is only $98/week. So it was $2/week short, and he didn’t get the Lost Wages supplement. If the state increases his benefit by $2/week, he’ll get $1800. In his case, a state investment from the UI trust fund of $12 will bring almost $2000 in federal funds to Massachusetts.
And today I heard from two people who read about the law and called to thank us and find out more.
Overall, the return on the state investment is estimated at ten times. This is $31million in federal funds that people can use for rent, for food and other needs. It will benefit them and local businesses. We can be sure they will spend it immediately and probably locally.
I am grateful to many people for their hard work on this, including Rep. Sabadosa, who discovered the problem, and my chief of staff, Matt Hartman, who worked extremely hard to make this happen quickly, before FEMA runs out of money for the program. Senate President Karen Spilka and Speaker Robert DeLeo expedited the process, and the governor signed it right away. Thanks to them, the many legislators who helped, and their staffs!
Stay safe! Stay in touch!