Virginia lags in implementing extended unemployment benefits

RICHMOND, Va. (AP) — When registered nurse Amanda Marsh lost her job working from her Virginia home as a health plan medical reviewer late last year, unemployment benefits helped support her family while she looked for work.

Those ran out in March, so when she found out the coronavirus relief bill that Congress passed around the same time contained a provision providing up to 13 extra weeks of benefits to people like her, she was relieved.

But Marsh is still waiting, along with tens of thousands of Virginians who the state says are eligible for the Pandemic Emergency Unemployment Compensation program. The Virginia Employment Commission hasn't gotten the program off the ground yet — and doesn't expect to until July.

“It blows my mind that they think people can live that long with no income,” said Marsh, who described making ends meet thanks to money from selling her previous home. The Pittsylvania County resident with two young children said she's had a hard time finding a new job at a time when health care companies have been furloughing workers.

As of early this week, Virginia was one of 19 states that have yet to start making payments under the PEUC program, according to the U.S. Labor Department.

And Virginia appears to be among a handful of states moving particularly slowly to implement the benefits, according to an Associated Press review of public statements by state employment agencies. Of the states not yet making payments, many have said they expect to start taking applications by the end of May.

“The program exists on paper, but the bills are real and the money’s not there. And, you know, that’s a huge problem for folks," said Pat Levy-Lavelle, an attorney with the the Legal Aid Justice Center in Richmond.

Across the U.S., roughly 41 million people have sought jobless aid since the...