The Maine Department of Labor says it has distributed a one-time emergency payment of $600 to about 40,000 Mainers who are unemployed due to the pandemic.
Gov. Janet Mills authorized the payment under the state’s new Pandemic Relief Program designed to assist those who continue to face economic hardship.
The Labor Department says in a statement that the one-time payment will assist eligible people who were likely to exhaust or lose their benefits with the expiration of federal pandemic aid programs.
Labor Commissioner Laura Fortman says in a statement that the one-time payment is a start, but she says she’s pleased that another aid package has passed in Congress and that the DOL is ready to implement that aid as quickly as possible.
The new congressional bill provides $300 in extra pandemic unemployment benefits — half the amount approved in the spring.
