The Oregon Department of Employment said Friday it will not be paid in with payments to self-employed workers by the end of this week.
The delays relate to Pandemic Unemployment Assistance (PUA), a benefits program that Congress drafted last March and expanded in December. Oregon has promised to make arrears by Friday, but now says some benefits will be delayed indefinitely.
“We sincerely apologize for any confusion or delays with PUA benefits,” the department said in a letter to plaintiffs Friday. “We know you need benefits, and we trust you to get them.”
The Department of Employment says it is currently paying 46,000 PUA claims. Friday’s delay applies to people whose PUA claims would have lapsed if the expansion approved by Congress in December had not been.
The Department of Employment said the delay immediately affected 10,000 people with expired PUA claims, and some 10,000 others who depleted their PUA mussels and did not receive benefits while the state reprogrammed its computers to to accommodate extensions.
The state said people seeking benefits should continue to file their weekly claims to avoid additional delays. The Department of Employment has said it now hopes to have retroactive payments paid by Thursday.
Once the state’s computers are programmed to pay arrears, the department said it will take at least a week before retroactive benefits appear as paid claims in Oregon’s online system.
All categories of benefits for unemployed workers in Oregon experienced tremendous delays last year as the Department of Labor struggled during the pandemic with an unprecedented number of laid-off workers. Oregon’s claims system dates back to the 1990s and the state has repeatedly delayed an upgrade, despite receiving $ 86 million in federal funds in 2009 to pay for a replacement.
The state still has most of the money and plans to use it to fund an upgrade that is expected to take place in 2025.
Earlier this week, the department settled a class action lawsuit over the delays and agreed to be more accommodating and transparent about the claims status.
– Mike Rogoway | [email protected] | twitter: @rogoway |