D.C. lawmakers have granted initial approval to a budget amendment that would send $500 to laid-off residents who endured excruciatingly long waits for unemployment benefits during the pandemic.

The D.C. Council unanimously passed a budget amendment Tuesday afternoon from Councilmember Elissa Silverman (I-At Large) that provides a one-time payment to 10,000 D.C. residents forced to wait at least 60 days for their first benefit check. The final budget bill still awaits a vote, but Silverman’s amendment is likely to remain in the final version.

The amendment appropriates $5 million in American Rescue Plan funds that had been designated for the Department of Employment Services, which oversees D.C.’s unemployment system, in 2024.

The agency has been beset by complaints and criticism from residents and lawmakers frustrated by long delays in benefit payments. In oversight hearings led by Silverman, who chairs the council’s labor committee, agency director Dr. Unique Morris-Hughes defended the agency, saying it was simply overwhelmed by an enormous uptick in claims during the health crisis.

DOES usually tries to process claims within three weeks of receiving a claim, but many workers ended up waiting months — if the money ever came at all.

“During those months, claimants were left without any income to support themselves or their families,” Silverman wrote in a memo to D.C. Council Chairman Phil Mendelson. Some individuals stuck in limbo had to take out loans and run up credit cards while they waited, she added.

The District has another law that requires city agencies to pay interest on overdue payments to contractors, Silverman said Tuesday. “Why shouldn’t our own residents be treated the same way?”

The amendment prompted no debate during Tuesday’s legislative session, and passed a voice vote with unanimous support.

Earlier in the legislative session, the council also approved a measure from Councilmember Janeese Lewis George (D-Ward 4) that moves $3.25 million from D.C. Public Schools’ enrollment reserve to fund at least one full-time librarian 36 schools that don’t currently have one.

“Every school should have a librarian. We know students are struggling, and we should do everything in our power to help them,” she said.

Chairman Phil Mendelson opposed the amendment, saying it is unfair to schools “that have sacrificed something else to keep their librarians.” He voted “present.”

The council also added funding for payments to the roughly 15,000 undocumented residents and other workers who did not qualify for unemployment benefits during the pandemic, increasing the overall pot of money from $35 million to $41 million. Officials say those workers can expect a one-time payment of roughly $3,000. Still, advocates had asked for $200 million in all, saying some of the workers hadn’t received any assistance during the pandemic.

Lawmakers are expected to cast a final vote on the budget later on Tuesday, and must take one more vote on another piece of the budget next week before they can transmit the final document to Mayor Muriel Bowser. That vote is scheduled for Aug. 10.