Wisconsin Radio Network

Wisconsin News and Sports

You are here: Home / Archives for Business

Assembly Republican ask Evers for loan program to assist unemployed

By

State Assembly Republicans have a plan to assist thousands of people still waiting to have their unemployment claims sorted out, by the Department of Workforce Development.

Majority Leader Jim Steinke spoke during a press conference at the Capitol on Wednesday.

“How long are these 140,000 people supposed to wait? How long can people go without any income, without being able to pay their bills? And how long are we going to tolerate the excuses from the administration , without any real action on solving the problem.”

They want Governor Tony Evers to use some of the state’s remaining federal CARES Act relief money to provide bridge loans to those who are still waiting.

“We’re calling on Governor Evers to step up, and give Wisconsinites the hand up that they need. Currently there’s over $280 million left of Wisconsin’s share of the CARES Act. So the question is, why is the governor not using that money to provide bridge loans, to the folks that are waiting for their unemployment claims to be approved?.”

Steinke said the bridge loans could be administered by a state agency other than Workforce Development – such as the Department of Revenue – to allow DWD to keep focusing on processing claims.

“We need to do more to help people who have been waiting weeks or even months for unemployment benefits after losing their jobs due to the coronavirus pandemic,” said Speaker Robin Vos. in a statement “People are tired of waiting for the Evers administration to get its act together and we’re all tired of the administration’s excuses. There are families who are struggling to get by and they need help now.”

Evers’ office did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Johnson says U.S. shut down too much of economy in response to pandemic

By

U.S. Senator Ron Johnson thinks the country closed too much of its economy when the coronavirus outbreak started.

The Wisconsin Republican told the online news publication Axios the country “overreacted” at first.

“We closed too much of our economy down, and I don’t think we focused enough on what we needed to do: isolate the sick, quarantine them, protect the vulnerable.”

“At the same time, elected officials. I’m not overly critical . . . . they’ve had to make really tough decisions with imperfect information.”

Johnson said the federal government needs to come up with additional plans to help businesses that are suffering. He said those businesses shouldn’t be blamed for a downturn in performance. He calls the pandemic “an act of God.”

 

 

WalletHub study: Wisconsin has 2nd fewest Coronavirus restrictions

By

Wisconsin has some of the loosest COVID-19 restrictions in the nation. That’s according to findings from the personal-finance website WalletHub.

“Right now, Wisconsin has the second fewest COVID-19 restrictions. It’s second only to South Dakota, which is one of the state’s that never closed.” said WalletHub analyst Jill Gonzalez.

“It’s an ongoing study. We first released the week of May 5, which was obviously two months ago. That’s when Wisconsin ranked 34th.”

Less than two weeks later, the Wisconsin Supreme Court struck down Governor Tony Evers’ “Safer-At-Home” orders as unconstitutional. “Within those two weeks, it dropped all the way down to number two, which is where it still is. So that truly make all the difference. We haven’t seen a state drop that many spots since,” Gonzalez said.

 

Liberal group says Wisconsin billionaires have gotten richer during pandemic

By

While many of us are taking a financial hit from the COVID-19 pandemic, a handful of Wisconsin billionaires a doing quite well for themselves. Citizen Action of Wisconsin executive director Robert Kraig believes they’re benefiting from a tax cut included in the CARES Act.

“When people are literally having trouble figuring out how to get food on the table and rent, and unemployment benefits . . . are going to run out at the end of July, it’s just stunning to think that the one thing that does get done is to make these folks even richer,” Kraig told WCLO.

The liberal advocacy group is endorsing the new HEROS Act passed by the Democratic controlled House of Representatives, which would repeal the tax break from the CARES Act.

Citizen Action cites data compiled by Forbes, which shows 8 Wisconsin billionaires collectively saw their wealth increase by more than 14 billion dollars, or 36 percent, during the first three months of the COVID-19 pandemic.

WCLO

Self-employed in Wisconsin experiencing delays in getting federal assistance

By

Some self-employed or independent contractors in Wisconsin have been waiting up to four months for benefits under the federal Pandemic Unemployment Assistance plan.

The PUA covers non-traditional workers not normally eligible for unemployment benefits.

The Wisconsin Department of Workforce Development confirms that only about 10 percent of 70,000 applicants had received benefits.

According to DWD, it takes longer to determine eligibility and the amount of benefit the applicant should receive, a difficult process that can’t be streamlined.

Frostman credits additional hires for improvement in taking unemployment claims

By

Department of Workforce Development Secretary Caleb Frostman says additional hiring has enabled the agency to more unemployment cases. “We’ve added a thousand either employees or contractors since the start of COVID-19 to go from 500 to about 1600, and that’s starting to pay off,” Frostman told WHBY. “When we first brought them on in late May, we were making and taking a total of about 2,000 calls a day.”

Frostman said DWD is now able to handle 12,000 cases a day, and that people should continue to file weekly claims, even if it can be frustrating. DWD has come under fire for lengthy delays in processing new unemployment claims, and not being able to handle the call volume in its offices.

WHBY

AAA reports gas prices increasing

By

As Wisconsin slowly reopens amid the global coronavirus pandemic, gasoline prices are creeping up.

AAA reports the average price for regular unleaded gas in Wisconsin is $2.14 a gallon. That’s seven cents higher than last week, and 24 cents higher than last month.

Some of the cheapest gas in Wisconsin is in Outagamie County, where the average price is $2.05.

Report: Wisconsin economy is worse of 50 states for racial inequality

By

A new report ranks Wisconsin’s economy last in racial equality. Among the findings in the WalletHub study, Wisconsin has the nation’s highest gap in annual income between white and black households, and the highest gap in workforce participation between black and white residents.

Wisconsin ranks last of the 50 states in the report on the State Economies with the Most Racial Equality, with neighboring Minnesota and Illinois raking 48th and 49th.

What’s even more striking than the inequality in employment is the disparity in wealth between white and black Americans. The average white family has a net worth of $171,000, compared to just $17,150 for the average black family.

In order to determine which states have the most racial equality in terms of employment and wealth, WalletHub compared the 50 states and the District of Columbia across eight key metrics.

The data compares the difference between white and black Americans in areas such as annual income, unemployment rate and home ownership rate.

Republican Senators want firing or resignation of DWD division head

By

There are still more than 150,000 pending state unemployment claims in Wisconsin. Republican state Senator Steve Nass referenced those claims Tuesday, in calling for the resignation or firing of DWD unemployment Insurance division administrator Mark Reilhl.

“For weeks, it has been evident that the poor leadership provided by Mark Reihl in his duty to manage the unemployment insurance program has greatly harmed many citizens of this state in receiving vital benefits in a timely manner. His disastrous management continues today impacting more than 151,000 claimants that still have not received benefits or an explanation for denial,” Nass said.

Nass wrote that there’s a “lack of urgency” by the Department of Workforce Development to either get people their benefits or deny them so they can commence the appeals process, if applicable. Nass was later joined by state Senator Van Wanggaard.

The Department of Workforce Development reported Monday it has received nearly 3.2 million weekly claims since March 15 and has paid more than 2.3 million, as the state has dealt with the global COVID-19 pandemic.

WEDC’s Hughes says COVID-19 precautions will help businesses

By

The head of the Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation is urging Wisconsin residents to continue to practice social distancing, hand washing and wearing mask, in order to protect the state’s businesses from a surge in new coronavirus cases.

“I have seen numbers anywhere from 20 to 30 percent anticipated closures and I think that’s really tied into the duration of the `Safer at Home’ order, and then continuing that,” WEDC Executive Director Missy Hughes said during a media conference call on Tuesday, with Department of Natural Resources Secretary Preston Cole.

A UW Oshkosh survey from April found that about a third of businesses indicated they would not be able to reopen if the pandemic conditions extended more than 3 months. “That’s why it’s critically important that we all continue to think about . . . the social distancing, and the hand washing and wearing masks because this is all going to be critical for regaining momentum in our economy,” said Hughes.

WEDC is looking at daily consumer credit card transactions, and information from regional economic development directors, to get a picture of the effects the coronavirus pandemic are having on Wisconsin businesses.