I’ve heard a lot from Democrats about how Republican reforms to the Unemployment Insurance program are to blame for the long delays in making payments. Here is a quote, reported by @Wispolitics, from @WIWorkforce spox:

“None of the changes to the [UI] program over the previous eight years has significantly slowed down the system.”

Instead of blaming computers or Republicans, @GovEvers needs to start leading. Call centers should be open 7 days a week. Gov. Walker opened the call center on Christmas in 2014. Gov. Evers appears to have closed the call center on Memorial Day.

Additional state employees should be transferred to the UI program. A recent news story reported that DWD has turned down offers from state employees to transfer to the UI program to help process claims.

In 2019, @WIWorkforce bragged about its IT systems saying the system is “effective and efficient.” @GovEvers requested $0 for IT upgrades in the state budget. Congress provided $18.9M for admin improvements in April. Suddenly the computer system is to blame for UI problems.

WI was one of the last states to provide the federal $600 weekly benefit payments. While other states were working around the clock to make these payments, @GovEvers was busy blaming others for problems at @WIWorkforce. WI still isn’t making payments to self-employed workers.

Between April 26 and May 16, over 1 million calls to DWD have been blocked. In those 3 weeks, the average speed to answer and the avg. days between filing a claim and receiving benefits have increased. The flexibilities @GovEvers requested were signed into law April 15.

Enough excuses! These actions should have been taken weeks ago. Instead @GovEvers has opted to blame others for his failure of leadership.