About 250,000 Texans have valid unemployment claims but haven’t yet requested payment, said Cisco Gamez, a spokesperson for the Texas Workforce Commission, at a Wednesday media briefing.

People filing for unemployment first must have their claims approved. To receive benefits, they must request payments every two weeks on an assigned day, until they return to work and are no longer eligible for unemployment benefits.

Texans with approved claims who haven’t requested payments received texts, emails and mail to notify them to request payment, Gamez said, and they will receive texts on their assigned day to remind them to request benefits.

The commission distributed the most benefits in a single day Tuesday, paying out over $800 million in state and federal funding, Gamez said. Since the week ending March 14, the agency has paid out about $8.2 billion in state and federal funding.

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