Shelter from the Storm

Please see the notes on getting through these times that follow the playlist proper.

The State of California issued a mandatory order a few weeks ago—Everyone is required to stay home except to get food, care for a relative or friend, get necessary health care, or go to an essential job. If you go out, keep at least 6 feet of distance.

For workers impacted by the Coronavirus—you may be eligible for short-term benefits:
https://www.edd.ca.gov/about_edd/coronavirus-2019.htm

If you have lost income and are part of the creative arts community, limited emergency funds are available. Check out https://tinyurl.com/t9gagmo .

Unemployed? Here’s what the stimulus bill provides:

The $2 trillion economic rescue plan that the Senate passed recently will expand unemployment coverage and take steps to cover the self-employed. Last week more than six million people filed for unemployment benefits, the worst ever in a week.

Here are answers to some common questions about what the bill will mean for the swelling ranks of the unemployed, as the coronavirus shuts down whole industries.

Who would be covered by the expanded program?

The new bill would wrap in far more workers than are usually eligible for unemployment benefits, including self-employed people and part-time workers. The bottom-line: Those who are unemployed, partially unemployed or who cannot work for a wide variety of coronavirus-related reasons would be more likely to receive benefits.

How much would I receive?

It depends on your state.

Benefits would be expanded in a bid to replace the average worker’s paycheck, explained Andrew Stettner, a senior fellow at the Century Foundation, a public policy research group. The average worker earns about $1,000 a week, and unemployment benefits often replace roughly 40 to 45 percent of that. The expansion would pay an extra amount to fill the gap.

Under the plan, eligible workers would get an extra $600 per week on top of their state benefit. But some states are more generous than others. According to the Century Foundation, the maximum weekly benefit in Alabama is $265, but it's $450 in California and $681 in New Jersey.

So let’s say a worker was making $1,100 per week in New York; she’d be eligible for the maximum state unemployment benefit of $435 per week. Under the new program, she gets an additional $600 of federal pandemic unemployment compensation, for a total of $1,035, or nearly all of her original paycheck.

Are gig workers, freelancers and independent contractors
covered in the bill?

Yes, self-employed people would be newly eligible for unemployment benefits.

Benefit amounts would be calculated based on previous income, using a formula from the Disaster Unemployment Assistance program, according to a congressional aide.

Self-employed workers would also be eligible for the additional $600 weekly benefit provided by the federal government.

What if I’m a part-time worker who lost their job because of a coronavirus reason, but my state doesn’t cover part-time workers.
Would I still be eligible?

Yes. Part-time workers would be eligible for benefits, but the benefit amount and how long benefits would last depend on your state. They would also be eligible for the additional $600 weekly benefit.