With the $900 billion pandemic relief package now signed, we’re awaiting word on what’s next from the Georgia Department of Labor and unemployment benefits.

The state labor office was working with the U.S. Department of Labor on the implementation of the new and/or modified programs of the Continued Assistance for Unemployed Workers Act of 2020 included in H.R. 133, the omnibus spending bill. This bill reached Congressional consensus Tuesday night with both chambers passing the legislation, pending Sunday’s signing.

An updated report from the state is expected later today.

If the bill was not signed into law, on Dec. 31, all federal unemployment insurance programs part of the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act would have ended.

The federal guidelines must now be established by the USDOL before states can determine the timeline for delivering these critical resources to Georgians. These guidelines are not expected before the first of the year.

“Some of the provisions included in the bill should be able to be implemented fairly quickly,” said Commissioner Mark Butler. “However, most of the new additions in the bill are going to take a substantial amount of time due to their very complicated nature. These new enhancements could take months of system development to implement along with the other changes that we will have to program.”

The GDOL encourages claimants to continue to request weekly payments. The agency will work diligently to release all eligible payments as quickly as possible after the bill is signed and will post new information on the GDOL website and social media platforms as it becomes available.