A one-week waiting period is back in effect for Wisconsinites applying for unemployment, as the coronavirus pandemic continues to lead to job losses.
The waiting period went back into effect Sunday after Gov. Tony Evers vetoed a Republican COVID-19 response bill last week. Republicans added the waiver of the one-week waiting period in an attempt to get the governor to sign a bill that included several COVID measures he disagreed with.
Republicans passed a law requiring unemployed people to wait a week before they could claim benefits a decade ago as a way to bolster the state’s unemployment fund. Lawmakers suspended the rule during the early months of the pandemic last year, but that action expired Sunday. Evers has previously called for permanently repealing the waiting period.