30,000 Wisconsinites apply for new pandemic unemployment funding in opening days

Wisconsin State Journal (Madison, WI)

Apr. 25--More than 30,000 people across Wisconsin have applied for pandemic unemployment funding since it first became available Tuesday, as individuals continue seeking relief from the ongoing impact of the COVID-19 crisis.

The federal funding, included in the national stimulus package signed into law by President Donald Trump a month ago, seeks to expand eligibility for benefits to those who are self-employed, independent contractors and freelancers that are unable to work because of the current health emergency.

The state Department of Workforce Development first began accepting applications late Tuesday morning for "pandemic unemployment assistance," receiving 17,740 requests on that day alone.

On Wednesday and Thursday, the numbers dropped off, hitting 8,180 and 4,080 respectively, according to data shared by DWD officials. Figures for Friday were not immediately available.

Under the law, applicants would be eligible for between $163 and $370 in weekly benefits. Those who receive regular unemployment insurance are not eligible for PUA, which is available for a 39-week period stemming from the beginning of February of this year through the end of December.

But while DWD has begun accepting applications, officials expect there could be around a 30-day delay in processing requests and then sending out the funding through a system that is entirely brand-new, as the state has never awarded unemployment benefits to those who are self-employed.

As individuals have begun applying for PUA dollars this week, others continued filing Unemployment Insurance claims. From Sunday through Thursday, more than 40,000 individuals submitted applications, according to preliminary daily counts from DWD.

Since the beginning of March, the agency has sent out more than $200 million in unemployment benefits to applicants, spokesman Ben Jedd said.

Access to those benefits was made easier under recent legislation enacted in Wisconsin. That effort, signed into law by Gov. Tony Evers earlier this month, waived the state's one-week waiting period for claimants to receive aid from March 2020 through Feb. 7, 2021.

DWD previously said it is also looking to begin making unemployment payments through the Federal Pandemic Unemployment Compensation program, which was also created under the federal stimulus package, beginning next week.

The program provides an extra $600 per week through July 31, 2020 to those eligible for UI and PUA benefits. Previous UI applicants will automatically receive the funding.

In light of the spike of applicants for unemployment benefits, DWD has reassigned 106 state employees to the Unemployment Insurance Division, 79 of which came from other parts of the agency, Jedd said.

Meanwhile, DWD is also working to recruit more than 200 positions, according to Jedd, and officials are working to contract for a general Unemployment Insurance call center with 600 employees and another call center that would deal with PUA claims.

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