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The Oklahoma Employment Security Commissioner has received guidance that allows them to distribute the remainder of the federal FEMA Lost Wage Assistance (LWA) funds.

In a press conference on Thursday, OESC Executive Director Shelly Zumwalt said the agency will be making one time $400 payments to over 120,000 Oklahomans. She said the LWA program was the mutli-week $300 payments that went out to eligible claimants on Saturday, Aug. 1st, 2020 through Saturday, Sept. 5th, 2020.

Zumwalt said the eligibility for this one time $400 payment is the same as the LWA program was earlier in the year. To be eligible, you must:

• Receive at least $100 in any benefit type
• Have been impacted by COVID-19

Zumwalt added that the only change is the eligibility week. She said it is going to be the week following the original last week of LWA, or Sunday, Sept. 6th through Saturday, Sept. 12th, 2020.

The OESC plans on distributing the new payments on Wednesday, Dec. 16th. Zumwalt said claimants should see payments in their accounts by the morning of Thursday, Dec. 17th. She said they will continue to disperse the one time $400 payments through Monday, Dec. 21st.