The extra $600 will be added on top of state unemployment benefits for up to four months.

The State of Tennessee expects to start sending an additional $600 in federal money out with unemployment checks in a matter of days.

Congress included the extra benefit for people who have lost their jobs or can't find new jobs because of the coronavirus pandemic in its $2.2 trillion dollar relief package.

The extra $600 will be added on top of state unemployment benefits each week up to the end of July. Anyone who is collecting regular unemployment during this time will receive the extra money automatically -- that includes people still receiving unemployment benefits who filed before the COVID-19 outbreak, self-contractors, and those who were furloughed.

It was left up to the individual states to handle the distribution of the extra money from the CARES Act to those that qualified.

According to Chris Cannon, Assistant Administrator of the TN Dept. of Labor and Workforce Development, the federal government provided guidance this past weekend. Since then, the state's vendor and IT team have been working to update the system to accommodate the changes.

"The state expects to start paying the $600 federal benefit in a matter of days. This payment will be retroactive to April 4," Cannon told 10News.

The $600 is a weekly federal benefit and is considered taxable income, but you won't have to pay it back.

Cannon said the state is on track to pay more than 100,000 Tennesseans more than $30 million in unemployment benefits this week. On a typical week, the state pays fewer than 15,000 claims which amount to approximately $3.99 million in benefits.

Cannon also said the state is working on an additional feature on the Jobs4TN.gov website that will improve responsiveness soon. People who log in during peak times will be placed in a waiting room with a spot in a virtual line to access the website.