Promised relief for thousands of Rhode Islanders out of work due to the coronavirus crisis, including self-employed gig-economy workers traditionally not eligible for unemployment insurance, is on its way.
Gov. Gina Raimondo said the state Monday received the information it had been seeking from the federal government, which is paying for the new benefits, and would begin taking applications at 8 a.m. Tuesday.
Another part of the package hitting the pipeline is an additional $600 per week for all workers receiving unemployment benefits, thanks to the $2.2-trillion CARES Act stimulus bill signed last month. The CARES Act also extends jobless benefits in Rhode Island from 26 to 39 weeks through July 31.
“If you have been laid off due to this coronavirus crisis, I want you to feel confident you are eligible for unemployment insurance even if in the past you have not been eligible for unemployment insurance,” Raimondo said in her daily news briefing.
The state Department of Labor and Training had said it hoped to begin processing applications for the extended benefits last week but needed additional details on the rules from the U.S. Department of Labor and Training that were absent until early Monday.
The closing of businesses and dramatic slowdown in economic activity caused by the public-health emergency have led to an unprecedented surge in unemployment claims — more than 90,000 in less than a month directly attributed to COVID-19 — straining the state Department of Labor and Training’s ability to process applications.
Raimondo described the agency as “crushed with demand” and said the administration is transferring state workers in from other departments to help process claims.
Still, it is likely to take between 10 to 14 days for new applicants, including the freelancers, independent contractors and self-employed small business owners newly made eligible to receive benefits, DLT spokeswoman Angelika Pellegrino said. (Typically it takes another 48 hours after an application is processed for payments to go out.)
Rhode Islanders out of work should apply for benefits on the DLT’s website, dlt.state.ri.us.
Meanwhile, another major piece of the federal coronavirus relief bill, the $349 billion Payroll Protection Program small business lending program, is also ramping up.
Managed by the federal Small Business Administration through its network of private banks, the program provides loans of up to $10 million to businesses and nonprofits with 500 or fewer employees. Loan proceeds spent maintaining payroll will be forgiven.
When the program launched last Friday, some small businesses ran into banks only lending to existing customers.
The situation prompted General Treasurer Seth Magaziner to write a letter Saturday calling the practice “unacceptable.”
“I urge all Rhode Island SBA lenders to swiftly review and process PPP applications for all eligible Rhode Island small businesses, regardless of whether they are pre-existing customers or hold other pre-existing products,” Magaziner wrote.
Mark Hayward, SBA Rhode Island District director, acknowledged that some bankers he had spoken to were taking care of their own customers first, but said he expects the program will soon produce the lifeline to businesses that was envisioned by Congress.
He said he did not have any specific figures on the number of loans submitted by banks so far in Rhode Island or total dollar amounts involved, and said any estimates generated over the weekend or early in the day had likely been surpassed.
“I am hopeful in the really near future, in the next few days, we will have everything we need,” he said.