Better Call Harry: Deadline nears for end of $600 federal unemployment supplement

Better Call Harry: Deadline nears for end of $600 federal unemployment supplement

By Harry Samler – CBS46 (Watch Now)

ATLANTA, Ga. — Fred Stein is a furloughed construction coordinator. He and forty of his colleagues have been waiting for benefits since April. That would be state unemployment plus the $600 weekly supplement provided by Congress.

Stein’s payday is near.

“I get a call out of the blue last night after I made contact with you,” Stein told Better Call Harry.

Stein’s benefits backdated add up to $12,000, two-thirds of that because of the extra $600. But, unless Congress extends the program, the payments stop Saturday.

Liz Coyle, executive director of Georgia Watch, says this deadline is looming when many utility companies, such as Georgia Power, are lifting shutoff extensions.

“We’re in a heatwave, it’s hot and all of a sudden people are going to be expected to pay their power bills,” said Coyle.

Georgia Labor Commissioner Mark Butler is hoping Congress will pass something without major changes so payments can continue as they have.

Stein has a message for Congress.

“Please,” he said. “You know guys, let’s get together, let’s stop fighting, let’s stop bickering.”

Harry connected Stein’s HR director with the Georgia Department of Labor to try to get all forty of the employees their benefits — an amount that could top half a million dollars.

Copyright © 2020 CBS46

Source: CBS46