Wisconsin’s Third District Assemblyman supports several bills trying to curb unemployment insurance fraud.
Representative Ron Tusler tells constituents that the US Department of Labor reported that Wisconsin had an improper payment rate of over 24% from July 2021 to June of last year.
According to Tusler, that means two out of three people were collecting unemployment insurance in Wisconsin who were not actively looking for a job.
Four bills were heard by the Wisconsin Assembly’s Labor Committee that would try to tackle the issue.
Tusler says the first bill would require state agencies to compile metrics on training and workforce development, while a second bill would expand the definition of employee misconduct to include theft, destruction of property, and violations of an employer’s reasonable employment policy.
The third bill would extend the statute of limitations on the prosecution of felony fraudulent claims by unemployed individuals to eight years, while penalizing the individuals who don’t show up to interviews or refuse offered jobs.
Tusler calls the bills a commonsense way of cutting out waste, fraud, and abuse.
The legislature tried to pass legislation similar to this last year, but Governor Tony Evers vetoed several bills, saying he “continues to be perplexed by the Legislature’s misplaced emphasis on changing and restricting economic assistance programs while offering no other comprehensive solutions or plans to meaningfully address our state’s workforce challenges.”
