More than half a million jobless Pennsylvanians may have to wait several weeks before their federal benefits resume under the extended CARES Act that President Trump delayed signing for six days, state officials said .

While the state has reviewed the extended CARES Act Congress passed Dec. 21, the U.S. Labor Department may wait several weeks before issuing guidelines needed to restart payments that expired Saturday, said Jennifer Berrier, acting secretary of the Department of Labor & Industry.

About 509,000 jobless workers received federal aid though the Pandemic Unemployment Assistance program for independent contractors and tech workers and the Pandemic Emergency Unemployment Compensation programs. PUA helps workers who lost their jobs because of the covid crisis and are not eligible for other unemployment compensation programs. The emergency unemployment compensation gives extra weeks of benefits to the jobless who exhausted their regular unemployment compensation.

“Oh, my God, that’s bad. I feel it could be done sooner,” said Barney Oursler, director of the Mon Valley Unemployed Committee, in response to what the state said may be a several-week delay in issuing the new benefit checks. The Department of Labor could issue the guidelines this week, Oursler said.

Some unemployed workers his organization assists exhausted their benefits in early to mid-December, Oursler said, and are in desperate need of help.

Extending the CARES Act that Congress passed in late March, was debated for months before Trump’s election loss to Democrat Joe Biden. Democrats and Republicans were unable to reach a compromise until Dec. 21. Trump initially refused to sign the bill, saying Americans should get $2,000 stimulus checks rather than the $600 Republicans favored.

The federal Pandemic Unemployment Compensation will give eligible claimants $300 per week in addition to their weekly benefit from other jobless aid. That FPUC program had provided $600 per week additional payments until the program ended July 31.

In the interim, Berrier said unemployed workers should apply for other forms of benefits that can help them.

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