Some Unemployed Maine Residents to get One-Time $600 Payment

AUGUSTA, Maine (AP) — Gov. Janet Mills’ administration says some Maine residents who are unemployed due to the coronavirus pandemic will receive a one-time payment of $600.

The Democratic governor said Wednesday that the payments are part of the state’s new Pandemic Relief Program and they are intended to assist unemployed people in Maine who might lose federal unemployment benefits at the end of the month.

Mills and other Maine leaders have called on the federal government to extend unemployment benefits nationwide. The governor says the payments will be funded by more than $25 million in federal coronavirus relief money.

The state has reported more than 14,000 cases of the virus since the pandemic began.