Wisconsin Won’t Make Unemployment Supplement Recipients Pay It Back
In many ways, 2020 has been a confusing year. With pandemics, shutdowns, regulations, masks - both on and off, shortages - who could blame someone for not being able to keep up. Well, the Wisconsin Department of Workforce Development has issued a ruling that should make life a little less confusing for some - sort of.
The Wisconsin Department of Workforce Development has ruled that it won't ask unemployment insurance recipients that are receiving the new $300 weekly unemployment supplement to repay the funds - unless "otherwise required by law or based on future guidance from the federal government". Still confused? If you're thinking: why would unemployment recipients need to pay the funds back, it's because of verbiage that was in the initial offering. According to news sources, the Wisconsin Department of Workforce Development asked unemployed recipients to "acknowledge that they could have to pay the money back....if another pandemic program is enacted by Congress to replace the Lost (Wage) Assistance Program". Further, "[t]he language about possible repayment was included to account for the possibility that Congress could pass a separate unemployment insurance supplement that was also backdated to August 1, creating duplicative benefits".
Essentially, the acknowledgement was required just in case a newer enacted program superseded the previous one. The likelihood of this happening was slim, but government regulators needed to cover their bases.
The confusion may have caused some people to opt out of receiving additional unemployment funds - funds that they otherwise would have been eligible for. According to sources, "some recipients may have already mistakenly made themselves ineligible for the supplement, which may total $1,800, amid the confusion surrounding how to answer the question or out of fear they could have been asked to pay the money back".