New Oregon Unemployment Extension Nears End

The first OEB3 benefit payments went out last week; the entire $30 million will be spent by mid-May.

Oregon Capitol photo by Tim King Salem-News.com

(Salem, Oregon) - Due to the unusually high number of Oregonians who applied, the new Oregon Emergency Benefits program (OEB3) will expend all of the benefit money available in the next few weeks.

The Oregon Legislature passed OEB3 and it became effective on March 24, 2011. The program provided up to $30 million in state unemployment insurance benefits to eligible applicants.

At the time, it was thought that as much as six weeks of benefits could be provided before the funding was exhausted. Because of the larger number of recipients it is now only expected to last four weeks.

The Employment Department sent letters to those who had completely exhausted all other benefit programs and were potentially eligible for OEB3. It was thought that approximately 17,000 people would qualify, most of the remaining having gone back to work. In fact, 22,352 qualified for the program as of Friday, April 29, 2011.

The first OEB3 benefit payments went out last week totaling nearly $6 million. This means the entire $30 million will be spent by the week of May 14, 2011. The Department will post notices on its website: www.WorkingInOregon.org and send letters to those in the program once all of the available funds have been paid out in benefits.

Source: Work Source Oregon