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The half million Floridians collecting unemployment benefits are getting a raise. The money is contained in the stimulus package signed into law. As Mike Vasilinda tells us, those receiving benefits don’t have to do anything…but wait a few weeks.

Hear it Here: Unemployment Benefits Going Up

A half million Floridians receiving unemployment will soon see an extra twenty-five dollars in their checks. Statewide, that’s an extra 345 million dollars going into people’s hands by the end of the year. The raise caught some…like Vivian Cromartie, by surprise.

“Food, utilities, you know, basic living expenses,” Cromartie explained what she would spend it on.

“I bet it will,” she said when asked whether it will make a difference in her budget.

For others with more means and more bills, the extra cash isn’t going to be a game changer.

“It’ll probably get me a tank of gas. Well, not even a tank of gas, a half a tank of gas. It will not affect me either way,” unemployed truck driver Russell Hass said.

The 25-dollar increase is across the board, whether recipients are receiving the max weekly payment of 275 dollars, or just half that amount.

The good news for those receiving unemployment is that you don’t have to do anything, but wait for the money.

The increase is retroactive to this past Sunday, but the state says that it could take until late March to get into people’s hands.

“So they’ll get a lump sum payment for the additional 25 dollars per week raise that they’re getting from the federal government,” Victoria Langley Heller with the Agency for Workforce Innovation said.

The increased payments have no effect on businesses or the tax rate they pay for unemployment compensation.

Unemployment is paid every two weeks. The maximum payment will now be 300 dollars for each week, and the additional 25 dollar payments are only authorized though December of this year.