The benefits could be available as soon as September and be retroactive back to August 1.

If you’re unemployed in Maryland, it looks like you’ll be getting a boost to your paycheck soon. The State of Maryland has submitted an application to Federal Emergency Management Administration’s (FEMA) Lost Wages Assistance program to provide each eligible resident an extra $300 per week in unemployment benefits. The new funds are available per an executive order signed by President Donald Trump earlier this month.

The FEMA program requires states to pick up part of the tab for the weekly payments and will continue until funding has run out. Currently 23 states have been approved or submitted applications to the federal government agency. The Maryland Department of Labor expects to have approval sometime later month and could begin sending payments by September 1, 2020.

“While it will take some time to work with the federal administration to implement this new program, all claimants will receive benefit payments retroactive to their earliest date of eligibility within the new program,” said Maryland Department of Labor Secretary Tiffany P. Robinson.

To be eligible for the extra $300, you must already be collecting at least $100 per week in benefits and certify that you are unemployed or underemployed due to COVID-19. Benefits will be retroactive back August 1 for existing claimants, ending on Dec. 26, 2020. The state of Maryland extended basic state benefits through a federal cooperative for an additional 13 weeks on July 31. Workers are typically only eligible for a total of 26 weeks at a time.

Nationally, the unemployment rate was 10.2 percent as of August 7, 2020. Maryland has consistently fared better throughout the coronavirus crisis, hovering around eight percent. The economy has added more than 96,700 jobs since the state began its reopening in May.