On Thursday, March 11, 2021, President Biden signed into law the Country’s next pandemic relief bill know as the American Rescue Plan. This $1.9 trillion stimulus bill provides additional benefits for individuals collecting unemployment compensation, as well as relief for non-profit businesses and local government entities.
Below is an outline of the Bill specific to unemployment insurance. Here at the Vermont Department of Labor, we have worked to make the necessary changes to our systems to ensure claimant do not experience a lapse in benefits.
For claimants who are eligible for the Pandemic Emergency Unemployment Compensation extension, or PEUC-3, they will receive an automated notice from our system informing them of when they have moved onto this extended benefit.
For claimants who are eligible for Pandemic Unemployment Assistance, or PUA, our team is working with the system vendor to make it so claimants can continue filing for benefits under the new extension without any disruption.
Finally, claimants who are coming up on their 12-month anniversary of when they opened their initial UI claim, will need to open a new claim under a new benefit year. A new claim can only be done at the time the existing claim expires, and not before. The Department will notify claimants when their benefit year ends and will provide instructions on how to file a new claim under a new benefit year.
American Rescue Plan Act of 2021
(H.R. 1319 signed by President Biden on March 11, 2021)
Secs. 2305 and 9663 – Affordable Care Act Amendments for Individuals Receiving UI in 2021
- Provides Affordable Care Act (ACA) eligibility for one year for individuals receiving unemployment insurance in 2021 with premium subsidies as a tax credit equivalent to a person earning up to 133% federal poverty level.
Sec. 9011 - Pandemic Unemployment Assistance (PUA)
- Begins the Benefit Week Ending Saturday, March 20, 2021.
- Extends PUA through the Benefit Week Ending September 4, 2021. (Program End Date of 9/6/21)
- Increases the maximum duration of PUA benefits from 50 to 79 weeks.
Sec. 9012 - Emergency Unemployment Relief for Governmental Entities and Nonprofit Organizations
- Extends federal funding for Reimbursable Employers until September 6, 2021.
- Increases the reimbursement rate from 50% to 75% for the amounts of compensation paid for weeks of unemployment beginning after March 31, 2021, and ending on or before September 6, 2021.
Sec. 9013 - Federal Pandemic Unemployment Compensation (FPUC)
- Extends the FPUC benefit of $300 per week through the Benefit Week Ending September 4, 2021. (Program End Date of 9/6/21)
Sec. 9016 - Pandemic Emergency Unemployment Compensation (PEUC)
- Begins the Benefit Week Ending Saturday, March 20, 2021.
- Extends PEUC through the Benefit Week Ending September 4, 2021. (Program End Date of 9/6/21)
- Increases the maximum duration of PEUC benefits from 24 to 49 weeks.
Sec. 9042 – Suspension of Tax on Portion of Unemployment Compensation
- Creates a $10,200 federal tax exclusion for unemployment compensation income for tax year 2020 for households with incomes under $150,000.
Additional program updates for Vermont claimants will be posted to the UI Newsfeed.
Sincerely,
Michael Harrington
Commissioner of Labor