Update: April 28 8:00 p.m. – State Response to Coronavirus

Friends and Neighbors,

Governor Lamont this evening announced that the Department of Labor has begun issuing the additional $600 federal benefit for filers receiving unemployment benefits.

To watch the full video of the governor’s afternoon press conference, please click here:

More information and the governor’s full press release can be read here: https://portal.ct.gov/Office-of-the-Governor/News/Press-Releases/2020/04-2020/Governor-Lamont-Coronavirus-Update-April-28

Governor Lamont Announces Labor Department Has Begun Issuing Supplemental $600 Stimulus Payments for State Unemployment Benefits

(HARTFORD, CT) – Governor Ned Lamont today announced that the Connecticut Department of Labor (CTDOL) has successfully programmed its computer system and begun issuing the first round of weekly federal stimulus payments to filers receiving state unemployment benefits, with the first batch of payments having been issued this past weekend. The additional $600 weekly payment, known as Federal Pandemic Unemployment Compensation, was created as part of the emergency response to the COVID-19 pandemic. It is retroactive to March 29, 2020 and will be provided through July 25, 2020. For those who already received unemployment benefits for previous weeks – such as April 4, 11, and 18 – the agency will be providing retroactive payments as a lump sum by the end of this week.

Claimants can check their online accounts on the CTDOL website at www.filectui.com and see the deposits were issued over the weekend. Those who receive payments through direct deposit should begin seeing the additional amount appearing in their bank accounts by Tuesday.

The first $600 payments totaled more than $89 million. When combined with nearly $51 million issued in state benefits, the agency provided $140 million in unemployment benefits last weekend.

CTDOL continues to work nonstop to implement the remaining two recently established federal stimulus programs:

• Pandemic Unemployment Assistance (PUA), which provides benefits for self-employed individuals among others, and
• Pandemic Emergency Unemployment Compensation (PEUC), a 13-week extension that allows eligible claimants to collect the additional weeks after exhausting the 26 weeks of state benefits.

The agency expects to begin accepting applications for PUA on April 30 and plans to have PEUC in operation by mid-May. Both programs will be retroactive.

More information can be found here: https://portal.ct.gov/Office-of-the-Governor/News/Press-Releases/2020/04-2020/Governor-Lamont-Announces-Labor-Department-Has-Begun-Issuing-Supplemental-Stimulus-Payments

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House Republican Leaders Call on Lamont to Delay $200 Million in State Employee Raises

HARTFORD – House Republicans Leaders today called upon Gov. Lamont to delay nearly $200 million in raises for state employees as Connecticut deals with the deadly virus pandemic that has shredded state revenues and thrown thousands out of work.

The SEBAC agreement calls for pay hikes of $135 million starting July 1, and an additional $60 million for other employees working in higher education. House Republican Leader Themis Klarides and Deputy Leader State Rep. Vincent Candelora wrote to Lamont today asking him to put off the salary increases.

“We are all proud of the work we did in the 2017 bi-partisan budget to create such large budget surpluses that have replenished our Rainy Day Fund to historic levels. Unfortunately, it appears that the impact of this pandemic will require us to exhaust those funds even faster than they accumulated. In other words, while the money in the Rainy Day Fund is extremely helpful during these times, it will not save us from existing underlying state budget problems and the downturn in the economy,’’ they wrote.

They said that the state cannot afford to go forward with the increases and called for immediate discussions with union officials. The Republican leaders said the public will not stand for pay hikes for state employees while others go without paychecks.

“You know all too well the magnitude of business closings and layoffs. Frankly, it would be an insult to those people and their families to allow 4% and 5% pay increases for state employees. There is no rational way to justify such increases,” they wrote.

The full letter can be read here: https://www.cthousegop.com/house-gop-lawmakers-ask-lamont-to-delay-135-million-in-scheduled-pay-raises/

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As of 4:00 p.m. tonight – Tuesday, April 28^th – the state has diagnosed a total of 26312 cases of Coronavirus. Updated virus totals and Town-by-Town statistics can be accessed here: https://portal.ct.gov/Coronavirus

The total statewide number of COVID-19 associated fatalities is 2089.

Latest COVID-19 Testing Data in Connecticut

Updated 4:00 p.m. on Tuesday, April 28, 2020

Total patients who tested positive: 26312

Fairfield County: 10874

Hartford County: 5224

Litchfield County: 900

Middlesex County: 618

New Haven County: 7089

New London County: 530

Tolland County: 422

Windham County: 164

Pending address validation: 491