Eligibility For UIC, EB & EUC

nancym wrote:

ofantastic wrote:My regular benefits run out May 3rd.. April 19th I get the full amount, then May 3rd I'll get like $200.

How do I switch over to Tier 1? I know that they're working on extending it, blahblah. But how do I switch over?

Do I get the $200 only on May 3rd, then two weeks later get the larger amount?

Thanks!

When you talk about when your benefits are exhausted, you need to refer to the last day of the week for which you are claiming, because that is how AWI will look at it.

Will you exhaust all benefits by the end of the week of April 18-24? Or is there a few bucks left for the week following?

Assuming Congress will pass this new extension of the deadlines in time, it's supposed to be retroactive. So if that last week has zero balance, you should be good to go with that week being fully covered by the first week of Tier 1. You don't have to apply or anything, it should happen automatically, but if you don't see a claim page available in time, or if in doubt, just call one of the reps posted on this board to verify.

If your last week has a few dollars left, I'm not sure whether AWI is paying out split weeks like that or not. My guess is that they would pay you the remaining regular benefits and then start you fresh on the first Tier, since that money is federal and the regular benefits are state-paid. But with the delays in the law and our OLD computer system, I don't know how they will do that this time for sure. After the law is passed I would call Melody or one of the other reliable reps to find out for sure if that partial week amount is critical to you at that time. Also, if you have a zero balance for the last of those two weeks, you can call them to claim that first week without waiting til the posted 2-week claim date. (I was told that recently when my last week was on an odd week, but I just waited, since it was my last benefits check anyway.)

Hi Nancy, I thought the Congress was discussing a Tier 5. If another extension is passed, would those of us still on regular benefits (but ending soon) start with Tier 1 - 4, then go to the 5 (if passed)? Or does Tier 5 just extend the 99 weeks?

Thank you!

test

Hope I am doing this right -

I have been receiving UC since October 2009. Last Monday was the last week paid from what I had in my account. I called AWI and the man told me that I needed to wait until the following Monday to claim weeks - that I was moving to Tier 1 (20 weeks). Do you automatically move from Tier to Tier? Someone please explain to me in layman's terms how this whole thing works. I have scoured the internet and the information is so conflicting. Thank You in Advance.

Yes....you should move from tier to tier automatically once your account zero's out. If you check you account online it should either be at zero or show your new benefit amount. Do you know how to check your account on line?

Thank you for your reply. Yes, I know how to check my account online... although it hasn't changed since I claimed weeks on Monday. --- I guess another question I would have is, if you say I will automatically move from Tier to Tier, why are some people concerned that they missed a deadline to move to another Tier?

I started my benefits on March 1 2009 and qualified for the max and worked several years before applying for unemployment. I calculate i am on my 60 week. I only have 1100 left in balance and when I talked to awi about 2 months ago she said i didn't qualify for any more benefits. I read the sequence of events on this topic (great explanation) but am confused on the tier after this one in green....that one has ended? Are the last 13 plus last six availble for me? Am I caught in the cutoff date of benefits and therefore don't qualify for anything else?? kinda worried as I only have two more claims pending. Is there anything left for me to apply for. Thanks for any input.
eitherhalf

**ADMIN EDIT - Moved to thread on eligibility

Hi Nancy, I thought the Congress was discussing a Tier 5. If another extension is passed, would those of us still on regular benefits (but ending soon) start with Tier 1 - 4, then go to the 5 (if passed)? Or does Tier 5 just extend the 99 weeks?

Thank you!

Congress isn't officially discussing any "Tier 5" or any kind of added weeks for those who are exhausting the max benefits yet, but at least 4 million who will run out of benefits utterly and completely by June 1 are hoping they do, and so far all the news and "news" (blog sites often confused with regular news outlets) about a tier 5 amount to rumor, hearsay, and wishful thinking. There may very well be added weeks, but no one really knows for sure right now, and if it comes out of Congress, chances are it may be a few more months.

But if it does, you would go through Tiers 1-4 and then most likely automatically on to those extra weeks. However, the big cutoff that those on regular or EUC tiers right now have to worry about is the next eligibility deadline, which is June 5. Congress will probably pass some kind of jobs/benefits deadline extension into the fall, but as of right now, if whatever tier you are on ends just before that deadline, you will have to sweat it out with the rest, waiting for Congress to do these ridiculous extensions bit by bit.

In your particular case, just starting Tier 1, you're safe for your 20 weeks, but you have to stay tuned in to make sure Congress passes the deadline extension til the end of the year so that you can automatically go on to Tier 2. They most likely will do that in the coming months.

[Edit note: I first posted this with an error--the new eligibility deadline is JUNE 5, not May 5!]

eitherhalf wrote:I started my benefits on March 1 2009 and qualified for the max and worked several years before applying for unemployment. I calculate i am on my 60 week. I only have 1100 left in balance and when I talked to awi about 2 months ago she said i didn't qualify for any more benefits. I read the sequence of events on this topic (great explanation) but am confused on the tier after this one in green....that one has ended? Are the last 13 plus last six availble for me? Am I caught in the cutoff date of benefits and therefore don't qualify for anything else?? kinda worried as I only have two more claims pending. Is there anything left for me to apply for. Thanks for any input.
eitherhalf

**ADMIN EDIT - Moved to thread on eligibility

eitherhalf--

If you qualified for the max at $275, you should have been eligible for a total of 79 weeks, assuming you didn't find any work in between that would stretch out your benefits a little longer, or potentially put you into a "new benefit year." Assuming the 79 weeks, and that you are at week 60, that would mean you are transitioning into Tier 3 and then Tier 4, 13 and 6 weeks respectively. That should be automatic.

When you called a few months ago, most likely Congress had not yet passed a temp extension of eligibility deadlines yet. They just passed a 2-month temp extension last week that extended that out to June 5, so that you can pass into the next tier and be "safe" for the next 13 weeks. They will probably pass another deadline extension, but you'll have to watch for that to make sure you can pass into the last 6-week tier.

That last 6 weeks is dependent on Florida being still in a high unemployment status, but we all know that may not change until pigs fly.

As for the "tier in green," that was only available during 2009, and was a state-legislated benefit that the federal stimulus law paid for 100%. The state took advantage of that and temporarily changed its "EB" law, but only til the end of 2009, when that full funding ended. Theoretically, Florida could extend that again, but unless Congress extends its own 100% funding offer, Florida would have to pay for any new extension at 50-50 federal-state funding. And with a conservative legislature and an exhausted unemployment fund that now requires that they borrow from the feds to keep up with just regular benefits payments, that option is probably LESS likely than pigs flying.

hart2heart2009 wrote:Thank you for your reply. Yes, I know how to check my account online... although it hasn't changed since I claimed weeks on Monday. --- I guess another question I would have is, if you say I will automatically move from Tier to Tier, why are some people concerned that they missed a deadline to move to another Tier?

hart2heart2009, and anyone still on regular benefits or the tiers---

All the fuss lately is concerning two separate things, which the news and blogs have miserably confused in their reporting so that almost anyone not unemployed in this country has no idea what is really going on:

1) About 4 million people, a tsunami of unemployed people nationwide, will have or have already exhausted whatever total benefits they were eligible for by June 1, most lost all by the end of March. From that point on, millions more will also exhaust all benefits by the end of the year, many before the next election. Those people, many of us on this board, have been calling, emailing, faxing, or texting Congress to get them to add weeks of benefits into any jobs bill to help those at the total end of their ropes while hopefully any job creation bills take time to have some effect. This group of "long term unemployed" in many cases have used up all resources, are behind on rent, are on the verge of foreclosure or eviction, have used up all 401K or other savings, have crashed their credit, lost their health insurance, have borrowed as much as possible and/or sold stuff to survive, and a few are even in shaky emotional states with unknown consequences.

2) While all that is virtually being ignored by Congress, the only focus on benefits has been on the possible gap in benefits for those who are still getting regular benefits and the tiers, due to the cutoff dates in various laws. (Note that those who have already gone through all the tiers had to endure up to three month gaps at a time while electricity was turned off, overdue fees accumulated, etc--you can imagine!) The problem is that the laws have cutoffs for eligibility to go to the next tier from whatever tier you are on, as well as cutoffs for entire tier payout. So those laws passed last year were coming to an end and extensions had to be passed to continue people on those programs. I.e., if they hadn't passed the most recent eligibility deadline extension last week, many thousands, and eventually millions, would come to the end of their current tier with no ability to continue onto expected tiers of benefits. That new eligibility deadline is June 5. There is talk in Congress of extending that out to Dec 31, but no legislation has passed for that yet. Once you actually start any tier, you are ok till the end of that tier; the eligibility deadline is not a payout deadline.

BOTH of these problems are serious and not addressing them has gigantic consequences. But Congress has not even approached the first problem, and those currently on benefits still, unless the job outlook improves, will be right there in the shoes of those exhausting all benefits later on, some in not all that many months ahead.

I urge everyone on benefits still to join those who have exhausted them in keeping up with what's going on in Congress and what efforts are being made to both extend benefits further and to make laws to help with job creation. Be careful about news reports; their track record on clearly explaining what is going on with benefits has been quite miserable, often needing translation by someone who follows the legislation more closely. "Benefits extensions" are often confused with deadline extensions.

The "Senate bills, etc." section on this board follows those developments pretty closely. Also, Open Congress (national, not just Florida) and other boards have running discussions and keep posts on the lastest news developments (along with endless arguments sometimes, but also some moral support). The current thread I personally follow on Open Congress is the one for an old bill, S. 1699. Proposed new federal legislation is posted there systematically and you can read the text and comment on it. Benefits extensions are not cheap, cost billions per month, but the ultimate cost of no benefits may be worse, so the issues in Congress are complicated by the deficit and by partisan divide. But with over 15 million without jobs, Congress needs to hear from us in very large numbers.

FLORIDA **** IMPORTANT **** FLORIDA **** URGENT!!! **** PLEASE PASS IT ON!

[UIO, I'm deliberately triple-posting this in other threads to make it more visible right away.--nancym]

Anyone from Florida, PLEASE take action on legislation coming up in the Florida Senate tomorrow, April 21. Senator Gelber (D) is bringing up an AMENDMENT to SB 1736, a bill that would extend Extended Benefits in Florida through June 5 (or whatever that exact date is in the recent federal law).

Problem is, Congress will probably extend their 100% funding for EB further later this year, after the Florida session is over. So Sen Gelber's amendment would provide for accepting any 100% provided monies for EB that Congress subsequently enacts this year.

What this means is that anyone who did not get EB in Florida already (and possibly those whose EB was cut off last fall--I'm not sure about this part) would be able to apply for EB when their EUC benefits expire, or have already expired.

This action would do nothing for anyone who has already received the full weeks of EB last year, but it would affect thousands who would be eligible and bring a lot of money into the state.

ACTION:

Please call or email Senator Atwater, President of the Senate to tell him you support Senator Gelber's amendment to SB 1736 that allows for more months of Extended Benefits beyond the current cutoff in June if Congress votes for longer funding.

http://www.flsenate.gov/Welcome/index.cfm?CFID=201248695&CFTOKEN=48756914

Then please call your local Florida Senator to express your support as well. (You can follow the links on the left of the page if you don't know who your Florida Senator is.)

Please, everyone from Florida should be calling on this, even if it doesn't give you personally more weeks, since it will bring more help for the unemployed in this 12.3% state.

I learned of this just today from NELP's Miami advocate in the Florida legislature.

So has EB been turned on until June 5th (or whatever the federal date is?) Or is that what is being voted on tomorrow? Or is tomorrow just extending the deadline beyond that date? So if Tier 4 ends for me May 3rd could I file for EB? It's all so confusing.

frustratedinfl wrote:So has EB been turned on until June 5th (or whatever the federal date is?) Or is that what is being voted on tomorrow? Or is tomorrow just extending the deadline beyond that date? So if Tier 4 ends for me May 3rd could I file for EB? It's all so confusing.

EB is not on now. They are voting on turning on EB again for the short period that Congress has extended that 100% federal funding, which is only a couple of months. It's not like EUC, when if you start a tier you continue til it's finished. EB in Florida has strict payout cutoffs, so EB has not been in effect since the end of February, when it had a very short extension for Jan-Feb that helped very few people relative to all those unemployed.

So this bill SB1736 is a similar short term extension that will help very few people unless that amendment that we're advocating is passed along with the bill. So we're advocating to 1) vote for the bill, and 2) include Sen Gelber's amendment.

And YES, you should be able to apply for EB after Tier 4 IF you did not get the 20 weeks (or less) of EB last year. (You'd know if you got it--that's when we had to fill out all that paperwork or online details about our required work searches.)

I missed out on it the first time around. So if it does get turned on and they have a deadline of say June 5th and my last week to claim tier would be May 3rd.. I would get around a month of EB? Is that how it works.. when the deadline comes it comes right?

frustratedinfl wrote:I missed out on it the first time around. So if it does get turned on and they have a deadline of say June 5th and my last week to claim tier would be May 3rd.. I would get around a month of EB? Is that how it works.. when the deadline comes it comes right?

I just read the dates in the actual bill on the Florida Senate website, which you can read for yourself here:

http://www.flsenate.gov/data/session/2010/Senate/bills/billtext/pdf/s1736c2.pdf
(Bills can be searched on the main Senate page on the left by bill number.)

This most recent version of the bill shows that it is even more critical than I thought that Sen Gelber's AMENDMENT gets passed along with the bill. The bill itself is worded so that they are allowing EB retroactively from where it left off on Feb 27 til only April 5!

So what that means is someone would have had to have run out of EUC benefits before Feb 27 in order to get that full two months, or if after Feb 27, for whatever portion of that two months remains. E.g., let's say someone ran out of EUC (or anyone who actually got that previous 2-month EB extension) on March 30, they would get just one month of extra benefits.

On the other hand, if the AMENDMENT passes as well, anyone eligible from Feb 27 onward for any new up and coming date that Congress decides to extend the EB 100% funding would potentially get a much longer period of EB, up to 20 weeks max, until that new federal cutoff date, as yet to be determined.

I can't imagine that Congress won't extend that EB date, unless they decide to totally revamp their thinking about EUC vs. EB funding. EB is a bit more expensive for states to implement, and a big hassle for the jobless in some ways, but then it is easier to just give the states the money for a well established program, rather than having to re-design the EUC tiers every time.

So it's even MORE important to call your state senators and Sen Atwater to make your views known about this amendment. There is a potentially huge difference in the number of people who could be helped by it.

UPDATE: I got further clarification about these dates today. There are two amendments, the first of which extends the bill out til june2. See my post below in this thread.

FLORIDA SESSION starts at 1:30 PM today.

UPDATE: The latest information I have on this bill is that there are TWO amendments. The first, which I was told will most certainly pass, is an extension of the dates til June 2, not April 5 as in the original bill. That's good news for a lot more people.

But the second amendment on the floor, presented by Sen Gelber, is for the dates to be extended til later in the year, opening up much bigger possibilities for a lot more unemployed people in Florida. It's not certain if this will pass, so there's still time to call your Florida Senators, as well as the President of the Senate, Mr. Atwater, as posted in the link I gave earlier.

Again, this bill will not help you if you already used up all your EB benefits last year, but please call to support it anyway--the more jobless who get help one way or another puts less strain and difficulty on the rest of us for all kinds of services.

This bill, whichever amendments pass, still has to go back to the House. It's not certain what will happen there, but my guess is it would pass the House, a somewhat more liberal body than the Florida Senate.

I'm new to the Forum and have a couple of questions - I'm finding so much confusing info on the Internet and perhaps someone can answer my questions.

When are benefits being paid for under the new bill? I've read that they will be retroactive, that they aren't retroactive and a variety of payment determination dates. Does anyone know what the date requirements are? It was my original understanding from national newspapers that these benefits would cover through late May or early June.

Does anyone know when we can begin applying for these newly available benefits? There is nothing on the State's website but I know it will probably take them a week or two to get info on the website.

Any info anyone can share that is accurate will be appreciated.

Evelyn

***ADMIN EDIT - Please post within established threads, I am moving this one for you.

This is from the Senate website. I'm not sure exactly what it means. Can anyone interpret it?

04/21/10 SENATE Placed on Special Order Calendar; Read 2nd time; Amendment(s) adopted (875252); Ordered engrossed

From the Glossary

Engrossed bill (E, E1, 1st Eng., E2, 2nd Eng., etc.). The version of a measure that incorporates adopted floor amendments. The revision is done in the house of origin and engrossed under the supervision of the Secretary of the Senate or the Clerk of the House.

Is this the point where the bill is sent back to the house & if passed sent to the gov to sign?

grandmom49 wrote:From the Glossary

Engrossed bill (E, E1, 1st Eng., E2, 2nd Eng., etc.). The version of a measure that incorporates adopted floor amendments. The revision is done in the house of origin and engrossed under the supervision of the Secretary of the Senate or the Clerk of the House.

Is this the point where the bill is sent back to the house & if passed sent to the gov to sign?

Not yet, but the bill is still alive. I probably made my life more difficult by posting news about this bill in several different threads, but I'll try to keep the latest news posted in the Florida legislation thread here:

https://unemployed-florida.forumotion.com/senate-bills-state-policies-federal-initiatives-f6/florida-legislature-possible-new-benefits-t163.htm

Evelyn wrote:I'm new to the Forum and have a couple of questions - I'm finding so much confusing info on the Internet and perhaps someone can answer my questions.

When are benefits being paid for under the new bill? I've read that they will be retroactive, that they aren't retroactive and a variety of payment determination dates. Does anyone know what the date requirements are? It was my original understanding from national newspapers that these benefits would cover through late May or early June.

Does anyone know when we can begin applying for these newly available benefits? There is nothing on the State's website but I know it will probably take them a week or two to get info on the website.

Any info anyone can share that is accurate will be appreciated.

Evelyn

***ADMIN EDIT - Please post within established threads, I am moving this one for you.

Welcome to the forum, Evelyn.

Your post may have crossed with this new posting on the AWI website that explains it all:

http://www.floridajobs.org/publications/news_rel/Addtl_EUC_payments.htm

Understand that this new law is only an extension of deadlines, not additional weeks on top of what was already in law. I.e., it only applies to you if you've been cut off from benefits because of not being able to go to the next tier. If you already went through all the tiers 1-4, than there are no more benefits available. An exception is if you never got Florida EB, you may have some limited new benefits coming up--follow the links in the previous few posts and in the thread for Florida legislature for more info on that. Other than that, the AWI website should tell you what you need to know about the new law.

FYI.. although the Hot topics section on AWI's site isn't updated if you click on "file a claim for EB" it is now updated with the new information. It let me apply today and claim three weeks begining with the week ending May 1st. I finished up tier 4 April 24th.

frustratedinfl wrote:FYI.. although the Hot topics section on AWI's site isn't updated if you click on "file a claim for EB" it is now updated with the new information. It let me apply today and claim three weeks begining with the week ending May 1st. I finished up tier 4 April 24th.

Thanks for posting that, frustrated! You'd think they would have clarified that on their other pages, but good that you caught that. So anyone who's exhausted their tiers and thinks they might qualify for some EB, they can just go there and try the form. AWI is probably sending out letters (maybe?), but as I said, why wait!

i just filled out another EB app and claimed retro weeks!

I filled out the application for EB this morning. Now,some are saying you don't have to if you had already collected some EB in the past. Well I also heard that happy horseshit last November when the EB rug got jerked out from under or feet. No huge cracks appeared in the earth and no large rocks fell from the sky last time either. So I filed the application and for reasons unknown to me....it allowed me to claim for 6 weeks. I was told I had 2 weeks left. Nothing has updated on the AWI claim site as of yet......so I guess the waiting now begins. I am hearing conflicting reports saying it could a few days or a few weeks. I think AWI was geared up and ready to go this time. Maybe the "Tan Tuna's" stall tactic in signing the bill allowed AWI to be cocked,locked and ready to rock. Please anyone that see's any changes to their accounts,please post ASAP.

Great news Gonzo!! i also went directly from app to claiming! I'll post as soon as i see signs of life in my account. This time, the question to check for each week was "Did you work full time." Interesting change. Yay for AWI!!!!