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Melina Haruko

Why is unemployment benefits so low in Texas TWC?

My weekly benefit amount came out to $387 and I honestly can't believe that's supposed to cover anything. I worked full-time for almost four years at a logistics company making decent money, and after all that time the most Texas TWC will give me is $387 a week? My rent alone is more than double that. I went through the math on their site trying to figure out how they calculated it and it seems like it's based on what I earned in some specific three-month window from over a year ago, not what I was actually making when I got laid off. That doesn't make any sense to me. Is this how it works for everyone or did something go wrong with my claim? Anyone else feel like the amount they got approved for has nothing to do with their actual salary?

Claimyr got me through to a live TWC agent last week when I was trying to figure out the same thing about my payment amount. The agent walked me through exactly how my benefit was calculated and confirmed the formula. It's claimyr.com and there's a video showing how it works at https://youtu.be/V-IMvH88P1U — basically it handles the hold music for you and connects you when an agent picks up. The agent told me the amount really does come from a specific window of your past earnings, not your most recent paycheck.

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That's really helpful, I've been trying to reach someone at TWC for days. Did they explain which window they look at? I'm wondering if that's why mine is so much lower than I expected.

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the agent thing is key because TWC's website explains the formula but it doesn't tell you which quarter they actually used for your specific claim, you have to ask someone directly

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Saving that site. My situation is a bit different — I had a gap in my hours before the layoff and I'm worried about how that affected my calculation too.

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The formula is actually pretty straightforward once you see it written out. TWC takes whichever three-month period in your base period had your highest earnings, divides that number by 25, and that's your weekly benefit amount. So if your best quarter was $12,000, your weekly amount would be $480. The catch is the base period looks back at the first four of the last five completed calendar quarters before you filed — not the most recent months. That's why it can feel disconnected from what you were making when you actually lost your job.

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Wait so the base period skips the most recent quarter entirely? That explains everything. I got a raise about eight months before my layoff and those months wouldn't even be counted.

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this is the part that always trips people up, like nobody tells you this when you file, you just get a number and have to figure out why

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Exactly right on the formula. And the max anyone can get is $619 a week no matter what you earned. That cap hasn't moved in a while and it really shows.

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okay so for me I filed in October 2026, does that mean my base period goes back to like July 2025 through June 2026? trying to figure out if my better-paying months are in there

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$387 is actually pretty close to average for Texas honestly. The floor is $76 a week which is genuinely insulting, and the ceiling is $619. Most people end up somewhere in that lower-middle range. Texas UI was never designed to fully replace your income, it's more like a partial cushion while you look for work. That doesn't make it less painful when you're staring at your bills.

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$76 a week??? That's not even groceries. I didn't realize the floor was that low.

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the gap between what people earned and what they actually get is wild, especially in a high cost of living area like Austin or Dallas

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partial cushion is generous lol, more like a partial bandage over a full wound

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Something that might help put it in perspective: the maximum total you can get isn't unlimited weeks either. TWC pays out whichever is less — either 26 times your weekly amount, or 27 percent of everything you earned in your whole base period. So if your base period wages were on the lower side, you could run out of benefits faster than you expect even if you're still job hunting.

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I had no idea about the 27 percent cap on total benefits. So it's not just the weekly amount that might be limited, the whole pool of money could be smaller too?

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yes and once your benefit year ends (52 weeks after you filed) it's over regardless of whether you used all your weeks

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this is why people should file as soon as they're laid off and not wait around thinking they can get back pay for weeks they missed, the clock starts when you apply

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To answer the question about the base period from a few comments up: for a claim filed anytime in October, November, or December 2026, the base period runs from July 2025 through June 2026. So that's the four completed quarters ending June 30, 2026. The most recent quarter — July through September 2026 — is left out of the standard calculation. That gap is exactly why a raise or high-earning stretch right before a layoff doesn't always show up the way people expect.

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okay that actually answers my question perfectly, my best months were January through March 2026 so those ARE in my base period, that's a relief

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the alternate base period thing gets brought up a lot in these situations, but that's only for people who were out of work sick or injured for at least 7 weeks during one of those quarters, not just for people with low wages

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Good to know there's at least some option if someone was out sick, even if it doesn't apply to my situation.

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Nobody wants to hear this but Texas unemployment really was set up to be a short-term bridge, not income replacement. The formula math hasn't been updated to reflect what things actually cost now. Someone making $50k a year gets maybe $400 a week in benefits — that's around 40 percent of their actual take-home. In most other contexts that would be considered a failure.

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The frustration is 100 percent real. And then on top of a low amount you have the work search requirements, the payment requests every two weeks, the whole machinery of it.

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AND you have to pay federal taxes on it at the end of the year. So that $387 isn't even $387 after taxes unless you opted out of withholding.

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Wait, benefits are taxable? I did not know that. Do they take it out automatically or do I have to set that up?

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TWC offers voluntary 10 percent federal withholding, you can set it up in UBS. It's not automatic, you have to choose it. Texas has no state income tax so at least there's that.

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For what it's worth, the amount on your determination letter isn't necessarily permanent if something was reported wrong. If TWC used the wrong employer wages or missed a job you had, you can call and ask them to look at the wage records. I had a discrepancy once where a former employer filed my wages late and my benefit amount was lower than it should have been until it got corrected.

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That's actually worth checking — I did work a second part-time job for about six months in that base period window and I want to make sure those wages were reported.

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Wage records are worth auditing. TWC pulls them from employer tax reports, and if any employer was late or filed incorrectly it won't show up. Calling in is the fastest way to verify.

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I didn't know you could get this reviewed, I just assumed whatever number they gave you was final

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My situation is a little different from the main post but related — I had my hours cut to about 20 a week before I was finally laid off, and during that reduced-hours stretch I earned a lot less. That dragged down my best quarter and tanked my weekly benefit amount. I wish I had filed for partial unemployment during the hours reduction because apparently that counts as reporting work and earnings, not a separate claim.

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Partial unemployment is so underused. If you're still employed but working less than full time you can file and TWC counts your reduced earnings against your weekly benefit. A lot of people just wait until they're fully cut and by then those low-wage weeks are locked in.

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That's a mistake I definitely made too — I had a few months of reduced hours before the layoff and I never filed. Didn't know that was even an option.

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to be clear though you still have to do the work search activities even during partial unemployment unless TWC specifically waives it, it doesn't work like a pause button on the requirements

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The work search requirement piece is worth flagging for anyone new to this. You have to complete a set number of job search activities every week — the exact number depends on the county you live in, anywhere from 1 to 5 per week. Harris, Dallas, Bexar, Tarrant, and Travis counties all require 5 activities a week. TWC mails you a letter with your specific number and that letter is what governs your requirement, not what someone tells you on a forum. Keep a log because TWC can ask for it.

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I'm in Harris County so it's 5 a week — good to know. I've been keeping a spreadsheet but I wasn't sure if that counts as a proper log.

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a spreadsheet is fine as long as it has the employer name, date, type of contact, and outcome for each activity, TWC isn't strict about the format just the content

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I thought it was 3 activities a week everywhere, didn't realize it varied by county

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Nope, it really does vary. The letter TWC mails you will say your specific number. Don't go by what a neighbor or coworker told you they had to do.

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Another thing people get wrong: TWC doesn't pay the first payable week right away. They hold it until you've collected twice your weekly benefit amount AND either gone back to full-time work or used up all your benefits. It's called the waiting week and it surprises a lot of people when they realize one of their early weeks is just sitting there not being paid out.

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Both conditions have to be met? So even if I get paid twice it doesn't just automatically release?

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Right, both. You need the two payments AND you have to either exhaust your benefits or return to full-time work. If you go back to work before exhausting, you have to request it specifically in UBS or through Tele-Serv.

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the waiting week thing confused me for weeks, I kept thinking a payment was missing when really it was just held

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And it's worth saying it's not lost forever — just held. If you return to full-time work, requesting it through UBS or Tele-Serv Option 2 then 4 releases it.

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On the earnings while collecting question: TWC lets you earn up to 25 percent of your weekly benefit without any reduction. Above that threshold, every dollar you earn over that 25 percent gets subtracted from your payment. So if your weekly benefit is $400, you can earn $100 with zero reduction. Earn $150 and your payment drops to $350. Earn more than $500 total and you get nothing that week. Report earnings for the week you did the work, not the week you get paid.

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This is actually useful for people doing gig work or picking up shifts while they job hunt. You're not necessarily disqualified from benefits just because you worked a little.

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and if you're self-employed or doing freelance you report your net profit not gross revenue, that's different from regular employment wages

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does the 25 percent rule apply to severance too or just work earnings

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Severance is handled separately — you have to report it when you apply and on every payment request. TWC mails you a determination on how yours affects your benefits. The rules depend on the type of severance, so don't skip reporting it and hope for the best.

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THREE weeks into my own claim and I finally got a determination letter — only to find out my benefit amount was lower than expected because one of my employers apparently filed their wage report late. The base period wages TWC had on file were missing about six weeks of my earnings. Getting that corrected took a phone call and some patience but it did go up once the employer's late filing was processed.

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This is exactly what I'm worried about with my part-time job wages. How did you initiate the correction — did you call the main TWC number?

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Called 800-939-6631 and asked them to pull up my wage records. They confirmed the gap and said to call back after the employer's late report was processed, which took about 10 days.

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good to know late-filed wages do eventually get counted, I assumed once the determination was issued it was locked in

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Something about the payment request schedule that trips people up: you're supposed to request every two weeks starting about one to two weeks after you apply. The specific date is in a letter TWC mails you. You can file your payment request Sunday through Wednesday on time, or Thursday through Saturday of that same week as a late filing. Missing it entirely means missing that payment — so set a reminder and don't wait until the last minute.

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I've been doing mine through UBS and setting a calendar reminder for Sunday morning each time. Seems to be working okay so far.

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tele-serv is good too if UBS is being slow, you can request by phone at 800-558-8321 option 1

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the Sunday through Wednesday window sounds easy until you're traveling or sick and suddenly it's Thursday and you're panicking

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For the original question about the amount feeling low: there's also a cap on the total weeks, which is 26 weeks of benefits in a 52-week benefit year. Texas doesn't extend that period when unemployment rates are low, and Extended Benefits only kick in when the state unemployment rate clears 6.5 percent. That bar hasn't been met recently, so don't count on extra weeks beyond the standard 26.

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26 weeks is about six months. That's not a lot of runway if you're in a specialized field where hiring moves slowly.

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No it really isn't. That's why people are advised to start the work search immediately and not treat the first month as a break.

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and remember the benefit year is 52 weeks from when you filed not 52 weeks of payments, the clock runs even when you're not being paid

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To the original poster: appeals are worth knowing about even if you don't need them yet. If TWC issues a determination you think is wrong — say the base period wages are incorrect or the weekly amount was miscalculated — you have 14 calendar days from the date printed at the top of the determination letter to appeal in writing. You can do it through UBS. Keep requesting payments on schedule during the whole appeal process because they only pay weeks you actually requested on time.

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Good to know the appeals window is from the mailed date not the date I actually received it. I should probably keep all my letters.

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Keeping all determination letters is genuinely good advice. The mailing date controls the 14-day window and if you miss it, the determination becomes final.

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I missed a 14-day window once because I thought the clock started when I read the letter not when it was mailed, that was an expensive mistake

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My cousin thought she couldn't collect because she quit her last job. That's not automatically true — there are specific situations where quitting is considered to have good cause connected to the work, like documented unsafe conditions or significant changes to the terms of the job. She didn't qualify because her reason was personal, but the point is TWC looks at why you left, not just the fact that you left voluntarily.

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Right, quitting for personal reasons like transportation issues or staying home with family is generally not payable. Good cause connected to the work is about work-related reasons that would push someone who actually wants to keep the job to leave — and TWC expects the person to have tried to fix the problem before walking out.

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I've seen people assume that if they were miserable enough it counts as good cause. That's not how it works. The reason has to be connected to the actual job conditions.

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I thought getting fired was always disqualifying. That's not right either — it depends on whether what you did counts as misconduct under TWC's definition.

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Misconduct under TWC's rules covers things like violating company policy, breaking the law at work, or just consistently not doing the job even when you were capable of it. Getting fired for performance problems can sometimes be a gray area, so TWC looks at the specific circumstances from both sides.

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Real talk: the reliacard situation adds another frustrating delay. After your first payment is processed, TWC sends a U.S. Bank ReliaCard debit card in the mail. That takes up to 10 business days. So your first payment could be processed but you literally can't access the money until the card arrives unless you set up direct deposit in UBS before that first payment hits.

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I set up direct deposit when I filed so hopefully that avoids the card wait. Is the direct deposit option easy to change if I need to?

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You can update it in UBS. Just make sure any changes go through before your next payment processes or it'll still go to whatever account or card was listed.

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the 10 business days thing is 2 full weeks essentially, that's a rough wait when you have bills due

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My brother-in-law got an overpayment notice about six months after his claim closed and completely panicked. The amount was real and had to be paid back — TWC can't waive overpayments, there's no hardship exception and no statute of limitations on collecting it. But the billing statement comes with a payment schedule and they accept any amount you send. He also appealed the determination itself since he thought the overpayment was calculated wrong, and he had 14 days from the mailing date on that letter to file the appeal.

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No hardship exception at all? Even if the overpayment wasn't your fault?

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Even if it wasn't your fault. TWC is required to recover every overpayment regardless of how it happened. The appeal is the only avenue to dispute whether the amount is actually owed.

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This is one of those TWC rules that seems harsh but it's consistent — the safest thing is to report every dollar of earnings accurately on every payment request so there's no overpayment created in the first place.

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Used claimyr.com to get through to TWC about my base period question from earlier. The agent confirmed my calculation and also told me my employer had actually filed my Q1 wages correctly, so the number I got is accurate. Annoying that it's lower than I expected but at least I know it's not an error. Getting a live person made the difference — I'd been trying to get through on my own for three days.

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Glad that actually worked for you. I'm going to try the same thing to verify my part-time job wages are in there.

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Three days of trying on your own is about what it takes usually. Worth using something that handles that for you.

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WorkInTexas.com registration is mandatory, not optional. You have to register there as part of the claim process and your profile needs to be active and searchable. TWC uses the same login credentials for WorkInTexas.com and UBS, so at least you're not managing separate passwords.

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I did register on WorkInTexas.com when I first filed but I haven't logged back in since. Do I need to be updating it regularly or just having the account is enough?

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Keeping your resume updated there is a good idea — employers and workforce staff can see it. The bare minimum is having the account active and compliant, but an outdated resume could look bad if TWC ever reviews your work search activities.

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The UBS and WorkInTexas.com shared login thing confused me for a while because the sites look completely different but you use the same User ID and password with a one-time code each time you log in.

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Circling back to the original question about why the amount feels low: the formula itself is working as designed, but it was designed a long time ago for a different cost of living. The $619 cap hasn't kept pace with wages in Texas's major metros. Someone earning $90,000 a year hits the same weekly cap as someone earning $60,000. At that point the replacement rate gets genuinely low.

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The cap is the real issue. The percentage formula is fine — it's the ceiling that hasn't moved. High earners in particular take a significant hit.

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That explains why my coworker who made twice what I made got almost the same weekly amount. I thought it was a calculation error on her end.

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Nope, both of you hit close to the cap and the formula just stops mattering past a certain income level. It's one of the more visible design problems with how the benefit is structured.

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My claim went into adjudication right after I filed and it sat there for almost four weeks before any determination came out. During that whole time I kept requesting payments on schedule even though nothing was being paid. When the determination finally came through approving my claim, all those requested weeks got paid together. The lesson there is never stop requesting even if the status looks frozen.

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This is reassuring. I had a weird status message for a few days and kept requesting anyway because I'd read the same thing on here.

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Status messages in UBS can lag behind what's actually happening on the claim. Checking once a day is enough — TWC updates overnight, not in real time.

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the mass payment thing after adjudication clears is actually nice, it felt like a lot of money all at once even though I'd already mentally spent it

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Just make sure the payment request window hadn't closed on any of those weeks. The timing matters — late requests during adjudication are still subject to the filing schedule.

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