MADISON, Wis. (AP) — Wisconsin residents who receive disability benefits and who had been denied additional unemployment benefits made available due to the coronavirus pandemic can now receive those payments.
The U.S. Department of Labor told the state Department of Workforce Development in a letter Monday that Pandemic Unemployment Assistance was available to people with disabilities who receive payments through Social Security Disability.
That’s a reversal from the federal government’s initial interpretation of state law.
Wisconsin elected officials in Congress, Gov. Tony Evers and Department of Workforce Department Secretary Caleb Frostman had urged the federal labor department to reconsider its initial decision denying the new benefits.