BATON ROUGE, La. - Today was the first day of the application process for the front line worker program; it's a $250 hazard pay rebate for those front line workers who were identified in Act 12 in the first Special Session of this year. Front line workers were able to start applying at 12:01 am last night, but around mid-morning the website started having issues.
By 10:30 am Wednesday, the Louisiana Department of Revenue had received more than 14,000 applications, but the Department started experiencing connectivity issues with all of their taxpayer access systems, according to Kimberly Robinson, Secretary of the Louisiana Department of Revenue. Today was also tax day for the State after being extended from May 15 due to COVID-19.
Act 12 of the 2020 First Extraordinary Session of the Louisiana Legislature provided for a one-time rebate for eligible workers earning $50,000 per year or less, who spent at least 200 hours responding to or mitigating the COVID-19 crisis from March 22, 2020, through May 14, 2020.
The application period for the front line worker program is open July 15 - October 31, but there is a program cap of $50,000,000 with applications paid on a first come, first served basis.
Robinson says the funds come from the Cares Act dollars that Louisiana received. The state received $1.8 billion of that funding. That money was allocated between the state and local governments. The legislature set up a grant program for small businesses and then out of that they created this program for front line workers.
You can apply online, but you can also down load a form, fill it out and mail it in, Robinson said. You don't have to worry about missing out because you use the mail, she added.
"We also have paper applications for those persons who don't want to fill out an online application." Robinson said."Our regulation, we set aside $12.5 million of the $50 million cap for those persons who applied by paper. You don't have to worry that if you don't apply online that you will be left out of the cap. We made sure we protected those people who apply using paper."
The Louisiana Department of Revenue extended the deadline for all state taxes due July 15 because of the computer network connectivity problem. The new date is July 17.
The problem has since been resolved and the website is now working. Click here for more information and to apply.
------------------------------------------------------------
Stay in touch with us anytime, anywhere.
To reach the newsroom or report a typo/correction, click HERE.
Download our free app for Apple,Android, Roku and Amazon devices.
Sign up for newsletters emailed to your inbox. Select from these options: Breaking News, Evening News Headlines, Latest COVID-19 Headlines, Morning News Headlines, Special Offers
