Getty Images Wisconsin Assembly Speaker Robin Vos, R-Rochester, addresses the Assembly during a contentious legislative session on Dec. 4, 2018 in Madison, Wis.
Updated at 3:28 p.m. CDT
Wisconsin Republicans want to end the $300-per-week federal unemployment supplement, which they said Tuesday hurts businesses that are struggling to fill vacancies as customers return amid a loosening of coronavirus restrictions.
Republican Assembly Speaker Robin Vos and Sen. Howard Marklein, chairman of the Legislature s budget committee, called on Democratic Gov. Tony Evers to support the bill they unveiled with the support of a couple of Wisconsin business owners.
Evers, who could veto the bill, signaled his opposition. His spokeswoman Britt Cudaback said, “If Republicans are interested in putting this pandemic behind us, they’ll stop playing politics with our economic recovery” and approve Evers state budget proposal.
Updated: May 17 2021, 23:36 ET
UNEMPLOYED Oklahomans could receive $1,200 to go back to work to combat increased benefits keeping workers to home.
Oklahoma Governor Kevin Stitt signed the executive order titled the Return to Work Incentive.
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Oklahoma Governor Kevin Stitt signed the executive order titled the Return to Work Incentive.Credit: AP
The first 20,000 people who apply and qualify for the incentive will receive $1,200.
To qualify, applicants must have received Pandemic Unemployment Assistance, Pandemic Emergency Unemployment Compensation, or traditional unemployment between May 2-15.
They must also complete six weeks of employment working at least 32 hours per week.
The link to sign up will go live on June 8 and payments will be available starting the second week in July.
Working families across th
e United States have struggled during the economic crisis created by the COVID-19 pandemic. At the peak of the pandemic, 22 million jobs were lost. Thanks to action by Congress, unemployment benefits were enhanced to ensure Americans could put food on their tables and pay their bills. While the economy has begun to recover, there are still 8 million fewer jobs than when the pandemic started. The American Rescue Plan, enacted in March, extended enhanced $300-a-week unemployment benefits through September 2021 to help unemployed Americans pay their bills as they look for work.
Despite the help these unemployment benefits have provided to millions of families, Republicans have announced plans to end these benefits in Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, Georgia, Idaho, Iowa, Montana, Mississippi, Missouri, North Dakota, Ohio, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Utah, and Wyoming:
Wisconsin Republicans propose bill to end extra unemployment benefits
May 18, 2021 3:02 PM From WISC-TV/Channel3000.com in Madison
Posted:
MADISON, Wis. (WISC) Saying the government should not be “competing” with business owners for workers, Republicans in Wisconsin’s state legislature are proposing a bill that would pull the state out several federal pandemic unemployment assistance programs.
Assembly Speaker Robin Vos and State Senator Howard Marklein were joined by small business owners Tuesday morning as they announced their proposal, which would end Wisconsin’s involvement in the Pandemic Unemployment Assistance (PUA) program, the Pandemic Emergency Unemployment Compensation (PEUC) program, the Federal Pandemic Unemployment Compensation (FPUC) program and the Mixed Earner Unemployment Compensation (MEUC) program.