Dear Neighbor,

Welcome to my e-newsletter! I’m honored and humbled to serve as our community’s voice at the Capitol in Lansing. As we continue into the term, rest assured the challenges families in our community and state are facing are at the top of my legislative priorities.

Please do not hesitate to reach out to my office by phone at (517) 373-0152 or email at AmosONeal@house.mi.gov if we can help.

Sincerely,

Amos O’Neal

State Representative, 95th House District

In this issue:

  • Upcoming Community Conversation Aug. 19
  • Rental Assistance
  • Unemployment Overpayment Waivers Granted
O'Neal Community Conversation with THRIVE guest

Upcoming Community Conversation

Please join our community conversation on Aug. 19, starting at 6 p.m. on Facebook Live. I will give a brief legislative update, and then, we will have a conversation about behavioral health. We will have a presentation from our special guest Dr. Matthew J. Samocki of THRIVE.

We hope to save some time for Q&A, so come with questions for our guest. You can join us on Facebook Live by clicking here or searching @StateRepAmosONeal.

 

I hope to see you there!

Rental Assistance

If you’re a renter having trouble paying your rent, utilities or other housing costs — or a landlord trying to stay afloat with tenants in this situation — help may be available. State and local programs are distributing billions of dollars in rental assistance to help renters stay housed during the pandemic.

Visit the Consumer Finance Protection Bureau CFPB’s Rental Assistance Finder to find out what this means for you and what you can do. The CFPB’s site also includes resources to help renters and landlords understand other resources to help navigate various financial hardships related to the pandemic.

Unemployment Overpayment Waivers Granted

The Unemployment Insurance Agency (UIA) has announced that overpayments for Pandemic Unemployment Assistance (PUA) benefits will be waived.

In June, claimants were asked to requalify for PUA by providing the agency with the necessary information to remain eligible for the federal program. The U.S. Department of Labor later found four PUA COVID-19 eligibility reasons included at the beginning of the pandemic to be non-qualifying. Under federal law, UIA had to re-evaluate PUA eligibility for individuals who selected one of the non-qualifying reasons.

Of the roughly 690,000 claimants asked to requalify, about 241,000 responded to the UIA’s request. Waivers will be granted to the initial group of approximately 350,000 non-responses, many of whom may no longer be collecting benefits.

Claimants will be notified through their MiWAM account or via U.S. mail.