Wisconsin Senate to pass bipartisan unemployment bill

MADISON, Wis. (AP) — The Wisconsin Senate is poised Thursday to approve a bipartisan bill designed to begin updating the state's antiquated unemployment insurance system that Gov. Tony Evers has blamed for causing delays in the processing of claims filed during the coronavirus pandemic.

The measure also includes portions of a COVID-19 bill that Evers vetoed. It would waive the one-week waiting period to receive unemployment benefits until March 14 and extend limited liability from coronavirus-related lawsuits to businesses, governments and schools. Other provisions of the earlier bill that Evers objected to, like forbidding employers from requiring workers to get the vaccine, are not included.