State says it's working hard to distribute unemployment benefits

By Globe Staff

Acknowledging that some people are getting concerned that their unemployment benefits have not yet arrived, state officials say they are working hard to distribute the extended benefits that were signed into law by President Bush at the end of June.

"We recognize people's frustration and anxiety. ... We're working on several different fronts to get these checks ready as quickly as possible and out the door," said Linnea Walsh, a spokeswoman for the Executive Office of Labor and Workforce Development.

Under the new federal law, jobless people in Massachusetts will be eligible for 39 weeks of unemployment benefits, rather than the usual 30.

But because the extension of benefits is a federal program, Walsh said, there were different eligibility requirements -- and that meant the state had to essentially build an entirely new computer program. "That's what our IT folks are doing as we speak," she said.

She said the new payments would go out by the week of Aug. 24.

Some other states have already begun sending out their payments. But others "are going through the same situation and dealing with the same thing" as Massachusetts, she said.

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