State Senator Lena Gonzalez Hosts Telephone Town Hall on Unemployment Benefits and the CARES Act

State Sen. Lena Gonzalez hosted a telephone town hall on Friday, featuring Congressman Alan Lowenthal (D-Long Beach), Assemblyman Patrick O’Donnell (D-Long Beach), and George Warner of Legal Aid at Work on unemployment benefits and the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act.

Gonzalez, who represents the 33rd California Senate District, emceed.

Warner, a fellow with the Wage Protection Program at Legal Aid at Work, said people should apply by fax, mail, or online for unemployment insurance even if they are unsure whether they qualify. He encouraged people to apply online and said it would take at least 21 days from applying to get their benefits. 

Warner, a Stanford Law School graduate, said those who do not qualify for unemployment may qualify for the Pandemic Unemployment Assistance Program, a new federal program being administered by the state.

“If you’re still employed and you or a family member is sick or needs preventive care, including if a public authority or doctor has recommended self-isolation or quarantine, you can use paid sick leave,” he said. “Every worker in California should have access to at least three paid sick-days a year, local laws may provide more, including if you work in Los Angeles or [are] a hotel worker in Long Beach.”

Warner added that effective April 1, workers of companies of less than 500 employees, will be eligible for an additional 80 hours or 10 days of paid sick leave for issues related to the coronavirus.

“These paid sick days are paid by your employer but are reimbursed by the federal government,” he said. “There is no cost to your employer for those additional sick days and you can use those federal-paid sick days if you can’t work, because you are sick, because a family member is sick, or because you are taking care of a child who is home from school.”

Lowenthal discussed the $2 trillion CARES Act—a federal economic relief package aimed at addressing the impacts of COVID-19—which gives grants and low interest loans to businesses and direct payments to individuals and families.

“In the bill were $300 billion for direct cash payments to individuals, which means that if you filed taxes either in 2018 or in 2019, or if you are on Social Security and we know where you live, that we’ve been sending payments,” Lowenthal said. “Those that have direct deposits will receive their checks first. Those that receive their checks either from the IRS or from Social Security that are mailed, they will be probably sent out within the next two weeks.

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“You are going to get $1200, an individual, and if you earned up to $75,000,” Lowenthal stated. “If you earned more than $99,000, you will not receive a check … If you are a family of four (two adults, two children), each spouse will get $1,200 and each child will $500 for a total of about $3,400.” 

The congressman added that the Internal Revenue Service will be setting up a web-based portal to claim payments for those who have not filed taxes and for those whom the IRS does not have either direct deposit information or mailing information. He stated the IRS would not contact a possible recipient, and if people did not receive their money, people must use the portal.

Lowenthal said about $375 billion were allocated for small businesses in grants and loans.

Small businesses can apply for emergency grants of up to $10,000. According to the federal government, these are to cover immediate operating costs.

A second form is the “Paycheck Protection Program,” which grants loans that are forgivable if “75 percent or more is used to keep current employees on the payroll for the next eight weeks.” He added this program’s funding, distributed on a first-come-first-serve basis, is going quick, with $100 billion of the $350 billion allocated in the first four days. 

Gonzalez concluded, “The state legislature … about three weeks ago enacted emergency funds for $1.1 billion in fact to ensure that we tackled local government issues relative to homeless services, our seniors, ensuring our health system service was upgraded, all related to COVID-19.” She added that 2 million people in California have applied for unemployment insurance.

You can reach Legal Aid at Work, which provides free legal assistance to workers, at 415-404-9093 and may visit its website here.

Those wishing to apply for unemployment insurance online should go to the EDD’s website. More information on pandemic unemployment assistance is available here. 

You can listen to the entire telephone town hall here.

Barry Saks is a writer covering politics and justice in the Long Beach community. Saks has been published in a variety of local publications and can be found online at www.barrysaks.com.