Letter to U.S. Department of the Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and U.S. Department of Labor Secretary Eugene Scalia - Bennet, Colorado Delegation Urge Rapid Federal Guidance for CARES Act Unemployment Insurance Implementation

Letter

Dear Secretary Mnuchin and Secretary Scalia:

Thank you for your continuing efforts to provide critical and necessary support to America's working families during this exceptionally challenging time.

As the administration works to implement the Unemployment Insurance-related programs, as part of the recently enacted Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act, we urge the Treasury Department and the Department of Labor (DOL) to quickly release comprehensive guidance to states on implementation so that Colorado can quickly disseminate benefits to workers who do not already qualify for state unemployment insurance.

In the span of two weeks, the American economy has witnessed unprecedented loss in our job market, with first-time claims for unemployment surging more than 3,000 percent since early March. A critical component of the CARES Act is the Pandemic Unemployment Assistance (PUA) Program, designed to provide unemployment insurance to self-employed individuals and gig-economy workers who normally are not eligible for unemployment assistance.

We are hearing from Colorado unemployment officials that expanding the program to those individuals who are not normally eligible will likely take weeks. With record-breaking unemployment claims and with many Coloradans experiencing substantial economic loss, there is simply no time to waste. We urge you to issue comprehensive guidance to states as quickly as possible so that Colorado unemployment officials can provide Coloradans with this critical source of assistance. It is vital that individuals who are normally overlooked for this assistance, such as gig workers and the selfemployed, do not slip through the cracks.

Thank you again for your efforts and we hope you swiftly address this issue.

Sincerely,