Stimulus checks begin arriving, bringing relief for thousands waiting on unemployment

PORTLAND, Ore. — Thousands of people in Oregon and southwest Washington woke up to an extra $1,200 in their bank accounts Monday, courtesy of the federal government, which could be some relief to those still waiting on unemployment checks to arrive.

OnPoint Community Credit Union distributed roughly 71,000 checks Monday, according to Jim Armstrong, chief information officer.

Brian Logan, who lives in Portland, found the $1,200 check in their bank account Monday morning.

"I will put it away because, what I hear on the news, this could be going on into the late summer. I can’t risk not having money to pay my bills," said Logan.

The checks are coming while thousands of Oregonians deal with stress and frustration, waiting for their unemployment claims to be processed.

"I filed right away, a new claim. I filed every Sunday," said Brittany Brunke, who said she was laid off in March. "I have no idea how much I’m supposed to be getting. Every time I go onto the website, I check the claim status. It says there is no valid claim. I have no idea when I’m going to get any money."

KATU News spoke with several people experiencing the same issue. Many are unsure if and when a paycheck will come.

Gail Krumenauer, a spokesperson for the Oregon Employment Department, said they are processing claims as fast as possible. She said the average time to process a claim and deliver a check is about three weeks. Krumenauer said they have been able to keep to that three-week average during the pandemic.

"Even though we are still working within that timeline, on average, every person’s situation is individual. We are working as hard as we can to get their benefits processed into them," said Krumenauer.

Over the weekend, the Oregon Employment Department experienced a "glitch" in their system, which told some Oregonians they needed to restart their claim online. The issue was resolved, and people can try claiming again, according to Krumenauer.

You can learn more about what to do about the glitch on the employment department's dedicated COVID-19 page.