Last wk, MN became the 1st state in the nation to implement the $600/wk federal "top-off" to unemployment insurance (UI) from the CARES act.

Next step is to expand UI to cover self-employed. I want to share what that entails, as we're getting lots of good questions here. 1/9

The program that allows UI for self-employed is called Pandemic Unemployment Insurance (PUA). It's brand new & has its own eligibility rules & guidance from the feds

It was created on March 27 with the passage of the CARES Act – nothing like it has ever existed before. 2/9

It’s modeled off Disaster Unemployment Assistance (DUA) which is typically a very localized program designed to help specific areas affected by natural disasters (floods, etc.) that would help a few hundred people. Scaling that up for millions across the country is complex. 3/9

While PUA will be administered by our unemployment program, it is not the same as regular UI.

There are different eligibility rules and fraud-protection measures. By opening up UI to more ppl, we have to be vigilant to protect our tax payer dollars against fraud. 4/9

Given the differences between the programs, we can’t use the same tech or data that we use for UI in order to make these major changes. 5/9

Our team are working 7 days/wk to build new tech to implement this program effectively. For example, we're working w/ the Dept of Revenue to build an automated process to speed up income verification. 6/9

No state has begun paying PUA benefits yet – but Minnesota is ahead of many states because we are already collecting much of the information we’ll need to determine PUA eligibility

About half of states aren’t even letting people who are self-employed apply yet. We are. 7/9

We're moving as fast as we can & our guidance is this: if you're self-employed, apply now. Even though you'll be denied in the system, we'll flag your account & proactively reach back out once PUA is built & ready to administer. 8/9

One important thing to know is that everyone eligible for PUA will be paid everything they deserve, back-dated to your eligibility date and the passage of the CARES act.

More info as always at http://uimn.org  9/9