MILWAUKEE, WI — It was Wednesday morning, and DeiDra Blakley was on the floor of her Milwaukee apartment counting the loose change she saves in a jar. She has a quarter-tank of gas left in her car, and she's been spending the morning hunting for boxes at nearby gas stations, so she has something to pack her belongings in case she is evicted. Christine Grey, a part-time hostess who lives in Kimberly, says she was laid off from her job March 17 when "Safer At Home" went into effect, and she is still waiting to hear about her unemployment claim. Meanwhile, Congress struggles to agree on a second Coronavirus Relief Package. Wisconsin's regular weekly unemployment benefit caps out … "What the hell is going on over there?" Blakley has been out of work for more than 13 weeks; and despite applying for unemployment insurance benefits in Wisconsin, she has yet to receive a check. According to the Wisconsin Department of Workforce Development, between March 15 and June 6, 626,697 people applied for unemployment insurance benefits. NBC15 News Reporter Elise Romas asked Sec. ", FREE DOWNLOAD: Get breaking news alerts in the FOX6 News app for iOS or Android. See the full list. Follow her on Twitter at @MollyBeck.
"Really, we have the claimant on the phone, I'm on the phone, and all we need to do is verify that it's a mistake and we're able to correct it.
It's a question thousands of Wisconsinites are wondering as well. Earlier this year, Grey joined a Wisconsin unemployment support group on Facebook.
"I am single, so all bills fall on me. And if callers get through it all, there often isn't help waiting on the other end of the line. Claimants wait and wait and wait for their cases to be decided, but no one is asking about the extent of these delays or why they are occurring. My savings is gone, and I have nothing.". "These folks need to be heard. County clerks prepare for high turnout ahead of 2020 presidential election, De Pere School Board votes to keep virtual learning in place. DWD employees say it's frustrating to know how to fix a claimant's problem, yet be required to send their issue through the process of adjudication, which can take months. State Sen. Van Wanggaard (R-Racine) issued a statement upon learning the news that some state unemployment insurance recipients had been waiting as long as four or five weeks for benefits to come through. "My story is not a tragedy, yet. "I was able to make it May and June, using savings to get all of the bills paid," Schillo told Patch. State unemployment payments still backlogged, Congress disagrees on relief package, DWD addresses recent developments with benefit claims, State reports record amount of daily test results, new cases and hospitalizations, Oshkosh School District announces plans to switch to hybrid learning, FIRST ALERT FORECAST: Beautiful election forecast, Green Bay man charged with Reckless Injury, Prostitution after weekend stabbing, Trial date set for woman accused of trying to get father to commit suicide. "We're in the middle of a pandemic and the very place that`s supposed to be assisting is in a frenzy," one claims specialist, who asked to not be identified because she was not authorized to talk to journalists, said. Longer times First, take note of a statistic the Department has been reporting after the… Kim Schillo told Patch that she was an administrative assistant with a manufacturing company in Waukesha. #Election2020: Democrat Joe Biden leads in many swing-state polls but President Trump's support is within the margin of error. Cheeseman said she calls the Department of Workforce Development every day, and gets disconnected every day. "We're still going (in) the right direction. No. She said the stories that people were sharing were devastating to learn.
Cook played FOX6 several recordings he has of his calls with DWD fraud inspectors, claims specialists, and supervisors. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. Caleb Frostman with the Wisconsin Department of Workforce Development said. She feels like she, and so many other people she knows, have been set up to fail. 12 restaurant chains have filed for bankruptcy in 2020 in the wake of the pandemic.
MADISON, Wis. - If patience is a virtue, Timothy Cook says he's built up enough virtue to last a lifetime. Every day, unemployment wait times stretch another day, pushing thousands of Wisconsinites one day closer to their breaking point.