Wisconsin residents receiving an extra $300 in weekly unemployment benefits are being asked to pay back the money if Congress enacts new legislation to replace the jobless aid created by President Trump’s executive action last month.
A spokesman from the Wisconsin Department of Workforce Development said the state is following guidance from the Federal Emergency Management Agency, which is funding Trump’s Lost Wages Assistance program, and the Department of Labor. FEMA, however, said that states administer the program while the agency provides the funds.
The $300 weekly benefit is retroactive to Aug. 1 for workers who qualify. Wisconsin’s DWD doesn’t anticipate that it will be forced to claw back the aid from claimants, although its own website posted the warning to out-of-work residents who tried to file unemployment claims.
It remains unclear whether future aid from Congress will be made retroactive to Aug. 1, meaning the payments would overlap, a spokesman said.
The DWD is anticipating that if Congress passes new legislation, it will begin once Trump’s Lost Wages Assistance program lapses for the week ended Sept. 5 so that there would be no overlap, they added.