Delafield, WI –Representative Cindi Duchow (R-Delafield) issued the following statement after the release of the nonpartisan Legislative Audit Bureau audit of the Department of Workforce Development (DWD) Unemployment Insurance program:
“This audit shows just how much Governor Evers’ Administration failed the people of Wisconsin during a time of crisis. It is clear that the governor shut down the state without a plan addressing the fallout from his decision, which clearly had dire consequences for hundreds of thousands of Wisconsinites who were put out of work through no fault of their own.
“For 10 months, Governor Evers has had the authority and means to take responsibility and do right by the hundreds of thousands of Wisconsinites harmed by his edicts. But instead, we’ve seen nothing but excuses and blame shifting from him and his administration.
“Legislative Republicans have been calling on the governor to take actionable steps to address the unemployment crisis at DWD since early spring, but these calls have been largely ignored. It is past time for our governor to step up and address the issues that have been plaguing this agency. Wisconsinites deserve better.”
The Legislative Audit Bureau completed the review of the Department of Workforce Development’s administration of the Unemployment Insurance program, as required by 2019 Wisconsin Act 185.
Key findings included in the report include:
- As of October 10, 2020, DWD only paid 74.5 percent of individuals who had filed initial claims for regular program benefits since March 15, 2020.
- DWD paid 53.2 percent of initial claims for regular program benefits in two weeks or less, but it took more than five weeks to pay 24.7 percent of them.
- DWD was responsible for 11 of the 13 weeks that it took, on average, to resolve the initial claims of sampled individuals. The three most common issues that accounted for time elapsing involved instances when DWD had not resolved issues even though it had the information to do so and because it had not requested information it needed from individuals and employers.