Over the last few months, the legislature has heard from an increasing number of people falling victim to licensing backlogs at the Department of Safety and Professional Services.
I have heard from constituents who have filed all the necessary paperwork and paid all of their fees, but are still waiting months on end to receive their license and begin their careers. The delays and bureaucracy at DSPS are causing economic hardship and delaying Wisconsinites entry into the workforce.
On top of this, we just heard the agency has scheduled a two-week “blackout” on new license applications. DSPS is claiming that they need to completely shut down the new application process in order to transition over to their new electronic filing system.
A two week shutdown would never happen in the private sector and is just another sign of poor management in our state government agencies.
Wisconsin is facing enormous workforce shortages and this decision by Governor Evers and DSPS is going to make the problem worse.
