DENVER (AP) - Colorado will spend about $168 million to send one-time payments of $375 to thousands of residents who’ve lost their jobs because of the coronavirus pandemic, Gov. Jared Polis said Wednesday.
An estimated 435,000 people who formerly earned $52,000 a year or less will receive the payments, Polis said in a statement. Recipients will get the payment alongside their regular unemployment benefits.
Polis cited the lack of progress by Congress on a new economic relief package as the reason for the one-time state payments, which he authorized by executive order.
The state labor department said most, but not all, unemployment claimants are eligible. Coloradans eligible to receive between $25 and $500 in weekly unemployment insurance benefits, including federal Pandemic Unemployment Assistance and Pandemic Emergency Unemployment Compensation, between March 15 and Oct. 24 are eligible, it said.
Residents should get the payment the first week of December, the department said.
More than 750,000 residents have filed claims for state and federal unemployment insurance since mid-March, the department says. Nearly $6 billion in benefits have been paid.
Colorado’s unemployment rate in September was 6.4%, compared to 10.6% in June.
Please read our comment policy before commenting.