Governor Doyle Announces Disaster Unemployment Assistance for Six More Counties

MADISON – Governor Jim Doyle announced today that individuals in six more counties, Adams, Calumet, Green Lake, Jefferson, La Crosse and Walworth, affected by the recent severe storms and floods that began on June 5, 2008 are eligible to apply for Disaster Unemployment Assistance (DUA) from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA).

These six counties are in addition to 22 counties the Governor announced Disaster Unemployment Assistance for last week: Columbia, Crawford, Dane, Dodge, Fond du Lac, Grant, Green, Iowa, Juneau, Kenosha, Marquette, Milwaukee, Ozaukee, Racine, Richland, Rock, Sauk, Sheboygan, Vernon, Washington, Waukesha, and Winnebago counties. DUA benefits are available to unemployed workers who worked or were self employed if they:

worked or were self employed, or were scheduled to begin work or self employment, in one of the affected counties; or were unable to reach their job because they must travel though the affected area;
can no longer work or perform services because of physical damage to the place of employment as a direct result of the disaster;
establish the work or self employment they can no longer perform was their primary source of income;
do not qualify for regular unemployment insurance benefits from any state;
cannot perform work or self employment because of an injury or because they were incapacitated as a direct result of the disaster;
became the breadwinner or major household support because of the death of the head of the household;
cannot work or perform self employment due to closure of a facility by the federal government; or
lost a majority of income or revenue because the employer or self employment business was damaged, destroyed, or closed by the federal government.

DUA benefits are not payable if an individual is eligible for regular unemployment insurance benefits. This program provides benefits for those who lost employment because of the disaster and do not qualify for regular benefits. Suffering a monetary loss due to damage to property or crops does not automatically entitle an individual to Disaster Unemployment Assistance.

Benefits are based on a person’s earnings for the most recent tax year. As a result, applicants will be asked to furnish earnings data from their 2007 federal tax returns when filing a claim. The benefit can range from $134 to $355 per week. The first potential week payable for DUA benefits is the week of June 8 through June 14, 2008.

Workers in the six additional counties just declared disaster areas must apply for benefits by July 25. The filing deadlines for DUA benefits announced previously for workers in other counties are as follows:

July 23 for Dane, Juneau and Ozaukee;
July 20 for Grant, Kenosha, Rock and Sheboygan;
July 19 for Dodge, Fond du Lac, Green, Iowa, Marquette, Washington, Waukesha, and Winnebago; and
July 16 for Columbia, Crawford, Racine, Richland, Milwaukee, Sauk, and Vernon.

Applications can be filed by calling the Unemployment Insurance Division in Madison at (608) 232-0678, in Milwaukee at (414) 438-7700, or toll-free at 1-800-822-5246. A special (TTY) number for the hearing impaired is also available at 1-888-393-8914.

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