Evers says he’s looking at CARES Act unemployment loan program, questions if it will help
MADISON, Wis. — Gov. Tony Evers said he’s looking into a Republican proposal to use CARES Act money to help people still waiting on unemployment benefits.
Last week, Assembly Republicans released a plan that would use $40 million of the federally gifted funds to provide zero-interest loans to some of those who have not yet been paid since losing work to the pandemic shutdowns.
The majority of people who filed have been paid, but there are roughly 140,000 people still waiting on benefits.
I asked @GovEvers if he’s going to use CARES Act $ to help people still waiting for UI benefits.
He said he’s looking at it. He says it takes people to create and oversee that program, and he doesn’t know that it will be faster than the current process. @WISCTV_News3 #News3Now
— Amy Reid (@amyreidreports) July 14, 2020
Evers said he is looking at the idea, but questioned if it would improve the situation.
“I view it as somewhat of a political stunt,” Evers said. “I don’t quite know how we’re going to do it any faster using CARES Act, it’s not as if we have a list of 300 thousand people, suddenly we’re just going to say, ok we’re going to make a guess as to if you’re actually eligible, we’ll send out a bunch of money.”
He said it takes time and people to execute that program, and it would still require checking to make sure claims aren’t fraudulent.
After that, he said he’s not sure it would be faster than the process the Department of Workforce Development has now.
“We are going to continue to work hard to make sure everybody gets the unemployment insurance checks they should get,” Evers said. “We’re making progress on that, and I’m looking forward to the day that everybody that deserves to get one should get one.”
Rep. John Nygren (R) @rep89 responds to @GovEvers saying he views the Republican proposal to use CARES Act money to help those waiting for UI benefits as “somewhat of a political stunt.” https://t.co/iZuQgIQFKd
— Amy Reid (@amyreidreports) July 14, 2020
Rep. John Nygren, R-Marinette and co-chair of the Joint Finance Committee, tweeted his response to the governor’s remarks.
“Providing immediate financial assistance to individuals waiting for your administration to process UI claims is not ‘a political stunt,’” he wrote.
Nygren said people have been left on hold for hours with the unemployment insurance office, and one of his constituents lost his house because he ran out of money waiting.
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