Members laid-off from railroad carriers and who have exhausted or nearing exhaustion of Railroad Unemployment benefits are concerned as to when the extended benefits enacted into law by Congress will begin to be paid.
The short answer, says the Railroad Retirement Board, is no later than June 30.
The reason for the delay, according to the board, is that while Congress authorized the extended unemployment benefits for rail workers and appropriated the funds, the process for making the payments is different than making so-called normal unemployment benefits.
Specifically, while so-called normal Railroad Unemployment benefits under the Railroad Unemployment Insurance Act are funded solely by the carriers through payroll taxes, the extended benefits are funded solely through a special $20 million appropriation contained in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.
Before it can pay the extended benefits, the Railroad Retirement Board says it must first develop, test and implement totally different processing and accounting systems, and that the effort is an agency priority.
In fact, the Railroad Retirement Board sent letters on April 24 to potentially eligible railroaders explaining extended unemployment benefits eligibility, and providing an explanation as to the delay in making the payments.
The most current information is available at the Railroad Retirement Board Web site, in the form of questions and answers about extended Railroad Unemployment benefits. Those questions and answers may be viewed at the following Web address:
