Virginians on unemployment will get an extra $300 on top of what the state pays out.
Gov. Ralph Northam's administration said this week the state is preparing to pay the extra benefit and is exploring ways to provide an additional $100 allowed under President Donald Trump's executive order.
For months, on top of their state benefit, unemployed Virginians also collected $600 a week in federal jobless aid. But that expired at the end of July, and negotiations in Congress to extend it have collapsed in rancor.
In response, Trump signed an executive order to provide $300 to $400 a week and Virginia is one of several states that will apply for the federal money,
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In states that decide to pay out the $300, the government estimates it would take three weeks, on average, for the states to send the money to the unemployed. And initially only enough money is being allotted to cover three weeks of payments. Even with subsequent grants, analysts estimate that there would be enough money to last only five or six weeks.
