Victor Forberger

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The Continued Assistance Act included a new documentation requirement for PUA claims. In my original post on the Continued Assistance Act, I explained: There is now an additional documentation requirement for PUA claims. Claimants will have to provide documentation regarding their employment, self-employment, or the job offer/work they were slated to start for any weeks PUA weeks for the week ending 1/2/2021 or later. New PUA claims filed on Jan. 31st or later will…
For the week ending 8 May 2021, the Department has added a new over-payment waivers FAQ. For this new over-payment waiver option, the Department will apply the equity and good conscience standard for the federally funded programs: PUC, LWA, MEUC, PEUC, and PUA. From the FAQ (as of 8 May 2021): Claimants who are eligible to apply for an overpayment waiver will receive a message in their Claimant Portal Message Center beginning April 28,…
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Wisconsin news is in a tizzy about pandemic unemployment benefits leading to shortages of job applicants. News reports in Wisconsin feature retail establishments, and the outcry about worker shortages from the restaurant lobby has been non-stop. Sen. Nass even wants to start requiring unemployed workers to do four job searches a week and end all pandemic-related eligibility for regular unemployment benefits. Hogwash. In other states, unemployment benefits may be an issue. But, in Wisconsin unemployment…
My Madison alder rep, Regina Vidaver, passed on the following information about an Emergency Broadband Benefit that will provide a discount of up to $50 per month towards broadband service for eligible households and up to $75 per month for households on qualifying Tribal lands. Eligible households can also receive a one-time discount of up to $100 to purchase a laptop, desktop computer, or tablet from participating providers if they contribute more than $10…
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The Department is sending out a new notice regarding PUA eligibility that is creating much confusion. This notice is the Department’s effort to comply with UIPL No. 16-20 Change 5 (25 Feb. 2021). This program letter addresses various issues with PUA benefits that exist in some states. Unfortunately, all of the issues raised in this program letter exist in Wisconsin. As a result, this new PUA notice reflects some massive changes in PUA eligibility that…
With the role of winter in Wisconsin changing and the lack of winter work search waivers for unemployment benefits for those having seasonal jobs, consideration of new kinds of job programs is needed. The UC Berkeley Labor Center has developed one such plan. This plan provides detailed recommendations that can be applied in other states to ensure quality jobs and which support workers under policies that reduce greenhouse gas emissions. The Action Plan…
For those with dyslexia, my apologies. But, in 2021 Wisconsin is actually returning to what happened in 2012. That is, Gov. Evers’ 2021 budget proposal seeks to return Wisconsin to the original 2012 SSDI eligibility ban for receiving unemployment benefits. Here is the story of how disabled workers in Wisconsin continue to get the short end of the stick. The original eligibility ban, dressed up as a financial offset In November 2012, the Department introduced…
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The Department has been announcing its new unemployment portal. The problem with this new portal is that basic functionality and information remains unchanged. All that has happened is that the Department has replaced a few menu commands with some new icons. The confusing messages about claim status, the lack of access to the legal documents that decide claim status like benefit year calculations remain, and the multiple layers and clicks to find key information and…
Given the delays with unemployment claims in Wisconsin, eventual payment of benefits is leading to folks receiving lump sum payments of $10,000, $15,000, or even $20,000 or more. Payments that large will mean a federal and state income tax liability, IF you do not have state and federal taxes deducted automatically at the time benefits are paid — aka, tax withholding. Note: Because benefit payment levels are generally low in Wisconsin, having taxes deducted from…
At the 18 March 2021 meeting of the Advisory Council, the Department began introducing its own proposals for changing unemployment law. More proposals are expected. These first proposals are appearing first because they were originally put forward during the last legislative session. The pandemic, however, meant that these proposals were never acted on. Some of these proposals are innocuous. Others combine difficult and complex issues with a less than forthright explanation. What follows are these…