Some Maine residents who are unemployed due to the coronavirus pandemic will receive a one-time payment of $600, Gov. Janet Mills’ administration said Wednesday.
Mills, a Democrat, said the payments are part of the state’s new Pandemic Relief Program and they are intended to assist unemployed people in Maine who might lose federal unemployment benefits at the end of the month. Mills and other Maine leaders have called on the federal government to extend unemployment benefits nationwide.
The payments will go to self-employed people, people who are sole proprietors and other business owners who are unemployed and losing federal benefits this month, Mills said.
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"While this relief payment is not enough to make unemployed Maine people whole, it is our hope it will serve as a lifeline to sustain them during the holidays and until Federal support arrives," Mills said.
Mills said the payments will be funded by $25.2 million in federal coronavirus relief money. As many as 42,000 people could be eligible for it, state officials said.
