Press Release
Madison...Speaker Robin Vos (R-Rochester) released the following statement regarding the unanimous passage of legislation that directs the governor to begin upgrading the Unemployment Insurance computer systems at the Department of Workforce Development.
The legislation also includes provisions to protect businesses, schools and local governments from frivolous lawsuits and exempts the one-week waiting period for unemployment benefits through March 14.
“The legislation provides a simple and easy roadmap for the governor to finally move forward at upgrading the unemployment insurance computer systems. There have been many missed opportunities and a lack of urgency by the Evers administration to address many of the issues with the unemployment insurance process during the pandemic. If Governor Evers needs us in the legislature to require him to do his job, we will.
“However, the governor can’t blame the computer systems as the main reason for the backlog of unemployment insurance claims. Nonpartisan legislative audits showed that less than 1 percent of the calls were answered at the call center during the height of the pandemic and DWD was responsible for 85% of the delay in payments.
“The people of Wisconsin have waited far too long for the state to resolve the issues caused by Governor Evers.”
Last Update: Feb 23, 2021 4:36 pm CST
