The D.C. Department of Employment Services said Thursday that it expects to begin distributing additional unemployment benefits in January as part of new federal coronavirus relief legislation.

President Donald Trump signed the $900 billion relief package on Dec. 27. The legislation will extend jobless benefits for millions of unemployed workers, including gig workers and independent contractors.

DOES said Thursday it is currently reviewing the legislation’s unemployment provisions. “The extension of the CARES Act benefit programs will provide continued and, in some cases, additional funds to tens of thousands of District workers who are fighting to stay afloat,” the agency’s director, Dr. Unique Morris-Hughes, said in a press release. “While we await additional guidance from the U.S. Department of Labor on how to implement the CARES Act extensions, DOES will be ready to act.”

Unemployment benefits for millions of Americans expired on Dec. 26.

The new legislation includes a $300 boost to jobless benefits through mid-March, and $600 stimulus payments. The latter was a point of contention for Trump, who argued that the payments should amount to $2,000, despite his White House having helped broker the provision, per CNN.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has since blocked a push for the chamber to take up a bill that would increase the amount of the payments.

While labor experts and local officials have warned that residents may experience a delay in receiving benefits, DOES said Thursday that the Department of Labor has indicated there will be no gap in benefit weeks. The agency advised claimants to continue filing weekly certifications, and that while the additional benefits are not yet available, payments for those eligible will be made retroactively.

In an update sent to claimants and employers Thursday and provided to DCist, the Maryland Department of Labor similarly said there would be no gap in benefit eligibility, but that there may be a delay in receipt of payment. “However, rest assured that eligible claimants will receive ALL benefits they are owed backdated to their earliest date of eligibility within the extended and additional programs,” the update continued.

The department is also waiting to receive complete guidance from the Department of Labor before benefits can be paid out in Maryland, and said guidance will likely be issued early next year. The Virginia Employment Commission did not immediately respond to DCist’s request for comment on a tentative timeline for distributing additional benefits.

The D.C.-area continues to face high unemployment as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. According to the most recent figures available, in November, the District’s unemployment rate was 7.5%. That number was 6.8% in Maryland and 4.9% in Virginia, a sharp increase from a year earlier.

This won’t be the first time locals have seen a delay in payments, though. As unemployment offices have struggled to process surging claims over the past year, many D.C.-area residents have waited weeks or months to receive benefits.