ANNAPOLIS, MD—Governor Larry Hogan on Tuesday announced that the Maryland Department of Labor has begun accepting claims and issuing payments for the Pandemic Unemployment Assistance (PUA), Pandemic Unemployment Emergency Compensation (PEUC), Federal Pandemic Unemployment Compensation (FPUC), and Mixed Earner Unemployment Compensation (MEUC) federal unemployment insurance programs extended by the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021. There will be no gap in benefit eligibility or payment for claimants.

“While our state is making great strides in its recovery from the economic impacts of COVID-19, unemployment insurance benefits still remain a critical lifeline for many struggling Marylanders,” said Governor Hogan. “As a result of Maryland’s fast programming and implementation of the newly extended federal programs, eligible claimants will once again continue to receive much-needed financial relief without interruption.”

The federal PUA, PEUC, FPUC, and MEUC unemployment insurance programs have been extended in Maryland until the week ending Saturday, September 4, 2021. All claimants received an email over the weekend specifying whether they should file their weekly claim certification or reopen their claim for the week ending Saturday, March 20, 2021 in their BEACON 2.0 portal.

“It has officially been one year since our department began to receive an unprecedented increase in new unemployment insurance claims filed due to the COVID-19 pandemic,” said Labor Secretary Tiffany P. Robinson. “I would like to express my sincere gratitude to the hundreds of unemployment insurance employees who have been working tirelessly to serve customers while successfully implementing a multitude of new and complex federal programs.”

All claimants who are eligible to receive benefits, including regular unemployment insurance claimants, will continue to automatically receive the additional $300 from the FPUC program in their benefit payment beginning Sunday, March 14, 2021, through the week ending Saturday, September 4, 2021, as long as they remain eligible for benefits and file their weekly claim certification. If determined eligible for benefits, claimants will begin receiving payment this week.

To find a detailed overview of the four federal extended unemployment insurance programs, including recently expanded PUA program eligibility requirements, visit https://www.MDunemployment.com.