Topeka ? The state Department of Labor says forms are going out soon to some 70,000 unemployed Kansans who qualify for extended benefits.

Applicants are eligible for an additional 13 weeks of benefits under a federal program signed into law by President Bush earlier this year.

The benefits will be paid starting for the week of July 12, through claims filed March 31, 2009. To be eligible, Kansans must have filed a viable claim before May 1, 2007. They also must have exhausted all regular unemployment benefits, have no rights to regular compensation and remain unemployed or partially unemployed as of July 6.